THe  SPRIGHTLY 


UC-NRLF 


MOLLY    €LLIOT    S€AW€LL 


"Why  nvere  you  so  extravagant  about  bread? 
asked  Marsac,  <very  cheerfully  ^working 
a--way  at  the  old  screen. 


THE  SPRIGHTLY 

ROMANCE   OF 

MARSAC 


BY 


MOLLY  ELLIOT  SEAWELL 


AUTHOR    OF 


;  CHILDREN    OF^  DESTINY,"     "A   STRANGE    SAD 
COMEDY,"     "  THROCKMORTON," 

''LITTLE  JARVIS,"  ETC. 


Sllustrateti  bg 
GUSTAVE   VERBEEK 


NEW   YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 
1897 


Copyright,  1896, 
BY  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 


Dramatic   and  all  other  rights 
reserved. 


JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE. 


NOTE. 

The  Sprightly  Romance  of  Marsac " 
obtained  the  first  prize  of  $3,000 
for  the  best  novelette  in  the  New 
York  Herald  competition  in  1895. 


List  of  Illustrations 

PAGE 

"  Why  were  you  so  extravagant  about 
bread?"  asked  Mar  sac,  very  cheer 
fully,    working    away    at    the    old 
screen  .......   Frontispiece 

Madame  Scbmid  was  plainly  in  a  rage        2 
Madame  Schmid  grew   still  redder   in 

the  face  and  shorter  of  breath    .      .        5 
//  was  easy  enough  to  see  who  was  the 

master  mind 9 

Madame  Fleury  entered 17 

"  Have  you  ever  thought  of  marriage 

as  a  way  out  of  your  troubles?"      .      25 
Marsac,  advancing   to   Fontaine,   whis 
pered  in  his  ear 37 

Marsac,    taking   his   hand,  led  him    to 

Madame  Fleury 39 

With  a  few  bold  strokes  the  bull- 
'fighter  assumed  the  appearance  of 
a  hale  old  gentleman  of  sixty  .  .  48 


List  of  Illustrations 

PAGE 

He  fell  over  on  bis  chair  with  amaze 
ment  and  chagrin 5° 

The  two  young  men  tore  open  the  box    .     5  3 

They  hugged  each  other  and  began   to 

dance  wildly 56 

"  Dorft   speak   of  your  fiancee  in  that 

disrespectful  manner, ' '  cried  Mar  sac       6  5 

He  opened  it  without  a  word  and  took 

out  four  bottles  of  champagne   .     .        67 

/  saw  these  two  poor  creatures  standing 

in  front  of  a  pastry-shop      ...        68 

Marsac  received  them  with  as  much 
kindness  and  respect  as  if  they  had 
been  banker* s  daughters  ...  75 

Madame  Schmid  made  a  dash  for 
Fontaine,  whom  she  collared  and 
dragged  out 77 

"  And  now  about  the  villa"  said  the 

old  brewer 83 

Monsieur  Duval  knelt  down      ...        89 

Monsieur  Duval,  closing  one  eye,  play 
fully  poked  him  in  the  ribs  .  .  93 

The  door  opened,  admitting   Fontaine 

and  two  remarkably  pretty  girls     .        97 
x 


List  of  Illustrations 

PAGE 

The  young  people  talked  gaily  together 

while  sipping  champagne      .     .     .      I  oo 

"A    hundred     and     thirty     thousand 

francs!"   cried  Maurepas       .     .      108 

Marsac   turned  a   double   hand-spring 

over  the  sofa      .      .     .      .      .      .      no 

Marsac,  seizing  her  around  the  waist* 

began  to  waltz  furiously     ,     .     .      113 

They  crept  softly  out  of  their  apartment      1 1  5 

As  it  brought  Delpbine's  golden  head 
quite  close  to  Mar  sac's  brown  one, 
she  consented  willingly  .  .  .  .  121 

"  Oh,  Madame  Fleury!"  cried  Mar- 
sac,  actually  hanging  his  head  .  .  129 

Madame  Fleury  pressed  a  handkerchief 

to  her  eyes      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      132 

Marsac  could  scarcely  restrain  a  shout 

of  joy 137 

Madame  Fleury  began  eagerly  searching 

on  the  ground  for  the  letter      .      .      139 

"  Here,"  Marsac  said,  tearing  the 
paper,  "  is  half  of  it  for  you,  Fon 
taine,  and  dear  Claire"  .  .  ,  143 

Monsieur  DuvaPs  victoria,  with  Ma 
dame  Fleury  in  it  .  .  .  .  .  145 


List  of  Illustrations 

PAGE 

Fontaine,  sunk  in  a  deep  armchair,  was 

a  picture  of  misery 1 49 

He  was  a  little  old  man  clutching  a 

rusty  travelling-bag  in  bis   trem- 

bling  hands 151 

"  Let  me  assist  you"  said  Fontaine, 

trying  to  take  the  old  bag  .  .  .  159 
Marsac  and  Delpbine  were  now  left 

alone „  .  1 6 1 

Madame  Fleury  stood  petrijied  for  a 

moment 175 

"  The  only  thing  for  you  to  do  now  is 

to  trust  me, ' '  said  Fontaine  .  .  177 
In  walked  one  of  the  most  weazened, 

cadaverous    little    men    who    ever 

stepped 1 80 

Madame  Fleury  rushed  out,  dragging 

the  unhappy  Fleury  after  her  .  .  I  8  8 
Marsac  with  his  arm  around  Delphine*  s 

waist 194 


Xll 


THE    SPRIGHTLY 

ROMANCE  OF 

MARSAC 


The   Sprightly  Romance 
of  Marsac* 

¥ 

Chapter  I 

IWl  ADAME  SCHMID,  round  and 
red,  with  the  spotless  lappets  of 
her  washerwoman's  cap  flapping  an 
grily,  was  plainly  in  a  rage ;  and  the 
three  loud  whacks  she  gave  at  the 
garret  door  of  17  Rue  Montignal 
caused  two  young  gentlemen  on  the 
other  side  of  the  door  to  quake  visibly. 
One  of  them,  Fontaine,  ran  inconti 
nently  into  a  closet  and  hid,  while 
Marsac,  the  other,  after  a  ghastly 
pretence  of  a  joke  about  Madame 
Schmid's  whacks  sounding  like  the 
three  given  at  the  Comedie  Francaise 
before  the  curtain  goes  up,  stalked 

*  Dramatic  and  all  other  rights  reserved. 
i  I 


The  Sprightly 

with  dignity  to  a  corridor  door.      But, 
Madame  Schmid  bouncing  in  suddenly, 
Marsac    as    suddenly    whisked 
out  of  sight. 

Madame  Schmid 
was  of  that  coarse, 
buxom  beauty  com- 
I  mon  enough  in  her 
class.  She  had  one 
year  been  elected 
queen  of  the  washer 
women,  in  that  pictu 
resque  festival  peculiar 
to  Paris,  and  it  had 
been  said  that  fear  of 
her  stout  arm  and  robust 
tongue  had  some  share  in  her  election. 
But  she  had  a  good  heart,  along  with 
her  vile  temper ;  and  as  she  planted 
her  basket  viciously  on  the  floor,  and 
whipped  out  a  tremendously  long  bill, 
her  quick  eye  took  in  the  poverty  of  the 
surroundings,  and  she  was  softened  in 
spite  of  herself.  However,  as  one  whis 
tles  going  through  a  graveyard,  so  Ma- 


Romance  of  Marsac 

dame  Schmid  always  stormed  the  more 
when  her  excellent  heart  prevented  her 
from  taking  stronger  measures. 

The  roorrl  was  excessively  shabby. 
A  moth-eaten  sofa,  and  a  large  but 
rickety  table,  covered  with  newspapers 
and  the  implements  of  the  journalist's 
trade,  were  the  principal  articles  of 
furniture.  The  light  of  a  gray  day 
shone  dully  in  at  the  curtainless  win 
dows.  A  number  of  pipes,  together 
with  a  cracked  mirror,  ornamented  the 
mantel,  while  scattered  about  the  room 
were  a  violin  and  case,  an  easel,  and 
painting  materials. 

iMadame  Schmid  belonged  to  that 
large  class  of  persons  who  believe  that 
a  man  who  engages  in  any  form  of  art 
is  necessarily  a  loafer.  The  sight  of 
the  painter's  tools,  the  violin,  and  es 
pecially  the  abundance  of  pens,  ink, 
and  paper,  acted  on  her  like  a  red  rag 
on  a  bull,  and  gave  her  the  excuse  she 
wanted  to  raise  a  tempest.  First,  she 
exclaimed  scornfully,  — 
3 


The  Sprightly 

"  Painters  !  " 

Next,  more  scornfully  still, — 

"  Fiddlers  !  " 

And  last,  with  a  concentration  of 
contempt  that  would  have  made  her 
fortune  at  any  theatre  in  Paris,  — 

"Journalists!  " 

Then  she  began  to  bawl,  in  a  voice 
like  an  auctioneer,  — 

"M'sieu  Marsac !  M'sieu  Fontaine! 
Oh,  I  know  you  are  somewhere  about  ! 
This  is  an  old  dodge,  running  away 
when  I  come  with  my  bill  !  You  owe 
me,  both  of  you,  for  seven  weeks' 
washing.  Seven  weeks  have  I  rubbed 
and  scrubbed  for  you,  and  I  have  not 
seen  the  colour  of  my  money  yet !  " 

Madame  Schmid  stopped  for  a  mo 
ment  to  take  breath,  and  then,  noticing 
the  door  leading  into  the  corridor, 
darted  to  it  and  began  to  tug  vigorously 
at  the  knob.  But  Marsac,  who  was 
holding  it  on  the  other  side,  was 
Madame  Schmid's  superior  in  muscle, 
though  not  in  weight,  and  the  door 
4 


Romance  of  Marsac 


resisted  successfully.  She  then  marched 
over  to  the  closet  door ;  but  Fontaine 
followed  Marsac's  tactics, 
and  Madame  Schmid  grew 
still  redder  in  the  face  and 
shorter  of  breath,  with  no 
better  luck  than  at  the 
corridor  door. 

At  that  moment  a  very 
well-dressed  little  man  en 
tered  the  room, after  an  al 
most  imperceptible  knock, 
and,  unrolling  a  bill  about 
a  yard  long, began,  — 

"  Gentlemen,  I  have  a  little 
here  — "  and  then,  raising  his  eyes, 
he  said  in  a  surprised  voice,  "  Why, 
there  are  n't  any  gentlemen  here  !  " 

tc  Not  if  gentlemen  pay  their  bills, 
Monsieur  Landais,"  answered  Madame 
Schmid,  sarcastically,  who  recognised  an 
old  acquaintance  in  Monsieur  Landais. 
Madame  Schmid  had  had  a  good,  obedi 
ent  Alsatian  husband,  whom  she  had 
talked  to  death  some  years  before,  and 
5 


bill 


The  Sprightly 

Landais  and  the  late  lamented  Schmid 
were  from  the  same  town. 

Landais  silently  held  out  his  bill,  and 
Madame  Schmid  flourished  hers  in  his 
face,  with  an  air  as  if  Landais  owed 
the  money  instead  of  Marsac  and 
Fontaine. 

"  Journalists  are  a  bad  lot,  I  can  tell 
you,"  rapidly  began  Madame  Schmid, 
who  liked  to  have  the  first  as  well  as 
the  last  word,  "  and  a  lazy  lot  too. 
While  you  and  I  work  for  our  living 
with  our  arms  and  our  legs,  Monsieur 
Marsac  and  that  pretty  boy  Fontaine  do 
nothing  but  sit  in  an  easy-chair  and 
write  all  day  long.  And  they  call  that 
work  !  " 

"  I  only  wish  I  could  sit  in  an  easy- 
chair  and  amuse  myself  with  a  pen  all 
day,  instead  of  toiling  over  a  cutting- 
board,"  answered  the  tailor,  ruefully. 

"  Painting    and    fiddling    when   they 

are    not   scribbling,  —  no  wonder  they 

can't    pay  their  wash-bills.      I  dare  say 

they  think  washing  is  an  elegant  amuse- 

6 


Romance  of  Marsac 

ment.  I  'm  sure  I  don't  know  how 
I  '11  ever  get  my  money.  Writing 
them  letters  is  a  sinful  waste  of  paper 
and  ink." 

"  And  calling  to  see  them  is  a  sinful 
waste  of  time.  That  Marsac  always 
makes  me  laugh  in  spite  of  myself. 
The  last  time  I  saw  him  I  put  on  a 
very  determined  air,"  here  little  Lan- 
dais  assumed  a  fierce  look,  "  and 
asked  him  why  my  bill  had  not  been 
paid.  He  told  me  that  he  and  Monsieur 
Fontaine  threw  all  their  bills  into  a 
basket,  and  every  six  months  they 
drew  one  out  at  random  and  paid  that 
bill,  —  and  it  so  happened  they  had 
never  drawn  my  bill  !  It  was  a 
wretched  joke,  but  it  made  me  laugh  ; 
and  I  assure  you,  the  first  thing  I  knew 
I  was  asking  the  fellow  if  he  and  his 
chum  wanted  anything  in  the  tailoring 
line!" 

"  And     he     chucks    me    under    the 
chin,  and  tells   me   I  'm   so  young  and 
handsome     I  '11     be     getting     married 
7 


The  Sprightly 

again  ;  and  then,  like  you,  I  turn  fool 
and  laugh,  and  pouff  goes  my  bill," 
moaned  Madame  Schmid,  wagging  her 
head  dolefully,  while  Landais  shook 
his  like  a  Chinese  mandarin. 

u  Then,"  said  Landais,  wearily, 
"what  are  we  climbing  up  all  these 
stairs  for  ?  " 

"  God  knows,"  answer  d  Madame 
Schmid.  u  But  I  have  no  more  time 
to  waste  on  them,  so  I  '11  leave  my 
bill  and  go." 

"  So  will  I,"  said  Landais  ;  and  they 
laid  their  bills  on  the  rickety  table  and 
went  out,  Madame  Schmid  clacking 
angrily  all  the  way  downstairs. 

The  minute  they  disappeared,  Fon 
taine  slipped  out  of  his  closet,  and 
locked  the  door  after  them.  He  was  a 
handsome,  fair-haired  fellow  of  five- 
and-twenty,  with  the  most  winning  air 
in  the  world  ;  but  it  was  plain  at  the 
first  glance  that,  with  all  his  grace  and 
intelligence,  he  was  a  man  to  be  led  by 
his  affections. 

8 


Romance  of  Marsac 


"  I  wish  there  was  a  drawbridge  out 
side  this  door,"  he  muttered,  and  then 
began  to  rummage  about  the  room. 
"  I  wonder  where  Marsac's  purse  is," 
he  continued  to  himself.  "  Ah,  here 
it  is,  —  and  only  two  francs  five  cen 
times  in  it ;  and  the  shoemaker  wants 
three  francs  for  half-soling  Marsac's 
shoes  !  "  .  And  then  he  began  to  call 
for  Marsac,  meanwhile  going  through 
the  empty  form  of  searching 
through  his  own  pockets. 
In  a  moment  Marsac  en 
tered  the  room. 

It  was  easy  enough  to 
see  who  was  the  master 
mind  there.  Marsac  was 
not  so  regularly  handsome 
as  Fontaine,  but  his  dark 
bright  eyes  and  captivating 
smile  seemed  to  radiate  bril 
liance  all  round  him.  After  the 
first  moment  of  seeing  these 
two  young  men  together,  it  was  not 
necessary  to  explain  their  relations 
9 


The  Sprightly 

to  each  other.  Fontaine  could  not 
look  at  Marsac  without  an  almost 
feminine  expression  of  fondness  and 
tender  reliance  coming  into  his  eyes ; 
and  at  the  bottom  of  his  heart  he 
thought  Marsac  the  most  brilliant,  ca 
pable,  and  lovable  of  men.  Marsac, 
on  his  part,  could  not  look  or  speak 
to  Fontaine  without  showing  the  af 
fection  of  an  elder  for  a  younger 
brother. 

They  had  been  schoolmates,  ten  years 
before,  at  a  provincial  college.  From 
the  first  moment  of  their  meeting,  they 
loved  each  other.  Fontaine  was  of  the 
best  blood  of  the  province  ;  but  he  had 
neither  father  nor  mother  nor  brother 
nor  sister  nor  any  near  relative  liv 
ing.  His  was  one  of  those  hearts  which 
must  love  something,  and  he  could  not 
help  loving  Marsac,  —  a  tall,  lithe  boy, 
older  than  he,  and  quite  able  to  fight 
Fontaine's  battles  as  well  as  his  own. 
Marsac,  like  Fontaine,  was  fatherless 
and  motherless.  He  was  educated  from 
10 


Romance  of  Marsac 

a  fund  for  the  sons  of  poor  gentlemen, 
which  the  recipient  was  expected  to 
return  when  he  was  able.  After  taking 
all  the  honours  in  his  classes,  and  being 
graduated  with  the  highest  distinction, 
Marsac  went  to  Paris  along  with  Fon 
taine,  both  to  seek  their  fortunes  in  jour 
nalism.  They  soon  got  work,  but  they 
made  precious  little  money.  Marsac, 
inspired  with  but  one  idea,  sent  every 
franc  he  made  back  to  the  fund,  and 
repaid  the  sum  advanced  in  an  astonish 
ingly  short  time.  But  it  was  at  the 
cost  of  getting  into  debt  on  all  sides. 
Neither  he  nor  his  chum  had  that  com 
mercial  knack,  that  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  purchasing  power  of  a  franc, 
which  comes  naturally  to  young  men 
whose  lives  have  been  spent  in  a  large 
city.  Marsac  was  of  a  buoyant  tem 
per,  and  constantly  expected  some- 
thins:  to  turn  up  which  would  relieve 

o  r 

them     of    all     their     embarrassments. 

Meanwhile,  confident  of  the  honesty  of 

his  intentions,  he   met  his  debts,  duns, 

1 1 


The  Sprightly 

and  difficulties  with  an  incomparable 
archness  and  good-humour. 

When  Fontaine  asked  him  for  a 
franc  for  the  shoes,  his  reply  was, — 

"  A  franc  !  Do  you  think  I  have  a 
complete  counterfeiting  apparatus,  that 
I  can  produce  such  a  sum  as  a  franc  at 
a  moment's  notice  ?  " 

"  Then,"  said  Fontaine,  ruefully, 
who  would  willingly  have  given  his 
only  pair  of  shoes  to  Marsac  would  he 
accept  them,  "  I  don't  know  what  I 
am  to  do.  The  shoemaker  said  three 
francs  or  no  shoes,  and  I  have  only  two 
francs  five  centimes.  You  have  already 
spent  enough  on  them  to  have  bought 
a  new  pair, —  new  vamps  in  Decem 
ber,  new  uppers  in  January,  and  now  in 
February  new  soles." 

"  Go  along  with  you  !  "  cried  Mar- 
sac.  "  Tell  the  shoemaker  I  have  a 
bad  case  of  confluent  small-pox,  and  I 
dare  say  he  will  be  glad  to  let  you  have 
the  shoes  for  nothing.  But  give  me 
that  paste-pot.  Our  friends  Madame 
12 


Romance  of  Marsac 

Schmid  and  Monsieur  Landais  have  left 
us  souvenirs  which  I  can  put  to  use." 
And  he  began  deftly  cutting  the  bills, 
which  were  on  stout  paper,  into  square 
pieces  to  mend  the  screen  with,  which, 
like  everything  else  in  the  room,  had 
holes  in  it. 

"  I  am  afraid  the  small-pox  story 
won't  be  a — judicious  subterfuge," 
was  Fontaine's  reply. 

"  What  did  you  do  with  the  eleven 
francs  we  had  yesterday  ?  " 

"  I  bought  four  bottles  of  wine,  a 
box  of  cigars,  and  two  loaves  of 
bread  with  it." 

"Why  were  you  so  extravagant 
about  bread  ? "  asked  Marsac,  very 
cheerfully  working  away  at  the  old 
screen.  "  If  you  squander  our  sub 
stance  on  luxuries  like  bread,  we  sha'n't 
have  anything  left  for  necessaries  like 
wine  and  cigars.  The  fact  is,"  he 
continued,  "  when  a  man  enters  jour 
nalism,  he  ought  to  have  an  education 
suitable  to  the  profession.  Instead  of 


The  Sprightly 

going  to  the  University,  I  should  have 
been  taught  the  shoemaking  and  tailor 
ing  trades.  How  often  have  I  heard 
that  no  learning  comes  amiss  in  jour 
nalism  !  Now,  if  I  had  the  most  rudi 
mentary  knowledge  of  cobbling,  I  could 
have  mended  those  shoes  myself." 

"  At  all  events,"  said  Fontaine, 
brushing  his  hat,  "  I  am  rather  glad 
to  be  out  of  the  way  now ;  for  this 
is  the  very  day  and  hour  that  Madame 
Fleury  always  appears  to  ask  for  the 
rent." 

"There!"  cried  Marsac,  for  the 
first  time  showing  impatience,  "  I  have 
been  trying  for  two  weeks  to  forget 
what  day  the  rent  is  due,  and  had  just 
succeeded  when  you  reminded  me  of 
it.  I  would  rather  see  Joan  of  Arc 
coming  at  me  full  tilt  on  horseback,  or 
Charlotte  Corday  with  her  dagger, 
than  Madame  Fleury  with  her  bill." 

"  I  have  heard  it  said  that  it  is  pos 
sible  to  live  comfortably  on  a  large 
capital  of  debts,  but  we  have  not  found 
14 


Romance  of  Marsac 

it  so,"  said  Fontaine,  still  brushing  his 
hat,  which,  however,  not  all  the  brush 
ing  in  the  world  could  benefit. 

"  But  the  debts  must  be  on  a  respec 
table  scale,"  answered  Marsac,  "  some 
thing  like  seventy  or  eighty  thousand 
francs.  I  don't  believe,  though,  that 
everything  we  owe  would  mount  up  to 
ten  thousand  francs.  I  felt  so  humili 
ated  the  other  day  when  one  of  the 
young  fellows  on  the  staff — a  mere 
reporter,  while  I  am  an  editorial  writer 
—  boasted  of  owing  his  tailor  alone  as 
much  as  we  owe  altogether.  I  could 
not  help  translating  hundreds  into  thou 
sands,  and  said  I  owed  my  tailor  nearly 
seven  thousand  francs,  when  it  is  not 
quite  seven  hundred.  But  I  saw  that 
the  youngster  respected  me  more  from 
that  moment,  and  Maurepas,  the  editor- 
in-chief,  asked  me  to  breakfast  the  very 
next  day.  I  was  obliged  to  decline  on 
account  of  these  infernal  shoes  ;  but  I 
said  it  was  because  I  was  sent  for  by 
the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction." 
15 


The  Sprightly 

"  Marsac,"  said  Fontaine,  after  a 
pause,  "  how  can  you  be  so  cheerful 
in  the  midst  of  our  difficulties  ?  " 

"  Have  you  not  heard,  my  little  man, 
that  the  laughing  philosopher  attained 
the  goal  of  all  wisdom,  while  the  weep 
ing  philosopher  stood  whimpering  at 
the  starting-post  ?  Does  a  long  face 
pay  a  bill  ?  Or  a  sour  temper  ?  De 
pend  upon  it,  Fortune  looks  for  the 
smiling  faces ;  and  so  I  try  to  keep 
mine  ready  to  welcome  her." 

Fontaine  went  out  then,  and  Mar- 
sac,  having  finished  the  screen,  took 
off  his  coat,  and  with  a  needle  and 
thread  began  sewing  awkwardly  on  it, 
whistling  like  a  bird  meanwhile.  In 
the  midst  of  it  came  a  knock  at  the 
door,  —  not  a  whack  like  Madame 
Schmid's,  nor  a  tap  like  Landais's, 
but  a  knock,  delicate  yet  firm,  polite 
but  peremptory.  Marsac  turned  pale. 
Nevertheless  he  hustled  on  his  coat, 
and  opened  the  door  with  his  best 
air,  —  which  was  a  very  fine  air, 
16 


Romance  of  Marsac 


indeed,  —  and    his    landlady,   Madame 
Fleury,  entered. 

Madame  Fleury  was  a  handsome 
woman  of  about  five-and-thirty,  with 
fine  dark  eyes,  and  a  car 
nage  full  of  grace  and 
dignity ;  and,  moreover, 
she  exhibited  a  self-poise 
and  self-possession  which  a 
prime  minister  might  have 
envied.  She  was  very  sim 
ply  dressed,  as  became  the 
morning  ;  but  the  simplicity 
was  of  the  kind  that  costs. 
Marsac  courteously  placed 
a  chair  for  her. 

"  I  am  glad  to  find  you  at 
home,   Monsieur   Marsac," 
were  Madame   Pleury's  first  words 
after  the  politest  greetings  had  been 
exchanged.      u  I   had  not   seen  you 
go   in   or   out    for   a    day   or    two,  and 
thought  perhaps  you  were  ill." 

"  A   trifle,  a   mere   trifle,"  answered 
Marsac,  with  much  readiness  ;   "  a  little 
2  17 


The  Sprightly 

dinner  at  a  ministerial  house,  —  those 
fellows  give  one  such  lots  of  cham 
pagne, —  and  I  inherit  gout,  and  it 
gave  me  a  touch  ;  so  pray  excuse  my 
slippers.  As  soon  as  Fontaine  returns, 
I  shall  put  on  my  shoes  and  go  for  a 
little  walk."  Then,  seeing  Madame 
Fleury's  handsome  face  assume  its 
u  business  expression,"  he  hastened  to 
add  :  "  How  wonderfully  well  you  are 
looking !  You  are  blooming  like  a 
rose." 

u  Thank  you,"  answered  Madame 
Fleury,  calmly.  u  In  a  house  like 
this,  there  are  certain  lodgers  whom 
I  am  compelled  to  call  on  occasionally, 
in  the  way  of  business." 

"  Do  you  know,  Madame,"  con 
tinued  Marsac,  who  had  not  ceased  to 
examine  Madame  Fleury's  features  as 
if  she  were  a  beautiful  portrait  or  a 
statue  which  he  had  never  set  eyes 
on  before,  "  there  is  a  picture  in  the 
Salon  this  year  that  might  be  taken 
for  you  ?  It  is  called  '  Springtime,'  — 
18 


Romance  of  Marsac 

a  young  girl  standing  under  an  almond- 
tree  in  bloom.  The  girl's  face  —  so 
fresh,  so  lovely  —  is  simply  yours." 

Madame  Fleury's  discouraging  reply 
to  this  was,  "  Business  is  business, 
Monsieur  Marsac,  and  must  be  at 
tended  to." 

Marsac  kept  on  as  if  he  had  not 
heard  a  word.  "  I  can't,  for  the  life 
of  me,  recall  the  artist's  name ;  but 
I  remarked  aloud,  '  Madame  Fleury 
must  have  sat  for  this  charming  face  ; ' 
and  a  very  distinguished-looking  man 
who  stood  next  me  said  in  English, 
'  Then  I  would  give  a  thousand  pounds 
to  know  Madame  Fleury  ! '  " 

u  I  wish  you  had  accepted  his  offer," 
responded  Madame  Fleury,  in  a  tone 
that  would  have  disconcerted  a  Talley 
rand,  "  for  never  in  my  life  would  a 
thousand  pounds  or  even  a  thousand 
francs  be  more  acceptable." 

Marsac,  however,  not  at  all  abashed, 
exclaimed  enthusiastically  :  u  Then,  all 
you  have  to  do  is  to  offer  to  pose  for  a 
19 


The  Sprightly 

nymph  or  a  goddess.  Bouguereau  and 
all  those  high-priced  fellows  will  simply 
be  tumbling  over  one  another  in  their 
eagerness  to  paint  you." 

"  Monsieur  Marsac,"  said  Madame 
Fleury,  in  a  tone  of  velvet  softness 
which  Marsac  perfectly  understood  and 
shuddered  to  hear,  "  I  am  talking 
business." 

"  And  I  am  talking  art,"  replied  poor 
Marsac. 

"  If  you  will  kindly  recall  the  date," 
continued  Madame  Fleury. 

Marsac,  taking  up  an  almanac,  began 
turning  the  leaves.  "  This  is  the  2Oth 
of  February,"  he  mused.  u  Let  me 
see  —  what  happened  on  the  2Oth  of 
February  ?  Ah,  I  have  it  !  It  is  your 
twenty-fifth  birthday,  and  you  have 
come  to  receive  our  felicitations." 

"Nonsense,  Monsieur  Marsac  !  "  re 
plied  Madame  Fleury,  with  the  same 
tone  of  deadly  sweetness.  "  It  is  the 
day  your  rent  is  due  ;  and  I  have  come 
to  see  if  you  are  prepared  to  pay  it,  and 

30 


Romance  of  Marsac 

also  the  arrears  of  two  months  you  still 
owe." 

Marsac  merely  shook  his  head,  and 
for  several  minutes  there  was  unbroken 
silence  in  the  room,  each  meanwhile 
closely  attentive  to  the  other.  At  last 
Madame  Fleury  spoke. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  two  young 
men  with  your  talents  and  character, — 
for  I  have  found  you  both  to  have 
good  characters,  except  for  this  rent 
business,  —  and  of  good  families,  shcfuld 
be  able  to  make  a  better  living  out  of 
journalism  than  you  do." 

"  Ah,  Madame,"  answered  Marsac, 
sorrowfully,  u  modern  journalism  has 
but  one  essential,  —  it  requires  a  man 
to  be  an  accomplished,  ready,  and  feli 
citous  liar ;  and  neither  of  us  is  that." 

"Then  why  don't  you — ahem  !  — 
try  to  acquire  that  one  essential  ?  " 

"  Transcendent  liars,  Madame  Fleury, 

like   poets,  are   born,  not   made.      And 

then    there    is    a    great    deal    in    being 

notorious.      Fontaine  and   I  have  done 

21 


The  Sprightly 

everything  short  of  felony,  to  bring 
ourselves  before  the  public  ;  but  we 
have  failed.  We  have  tried  to  drown 
ourselves  in  the  Seine,  —  with  life-pre 
servers  on,  of  course  ;  but  the  police 
found  the  life-preservers  on  us,  and 
instead  of  making  us  favourably  known, 
humph  !  —  we  were  glad  enough  to 
hush  up  the  affair.  We  have  brought 
the  most  horrible  charges  against  each 
other  in  print,  but  nobody  appeared  at 
all  surprised  at  them  ;  and  the  public, 
by  its  indifference,  seemed  to  take  it  for 
granted  that  the  worst  was  true.  The 
only  newspaper  which  took  the  trouble 
to  investigate  it  sent  a  reporter  here ; 
and  as  ill-luck  would  have  it,  the  fellow 
caught  us  waltzing  in  each  other's  arms 
for  joy  because  we  had  just  got  a  dinner 
invitation,  —  and  we  had  not  had  any 
thing  that  could  be  called  a  dinner  for 
three  weeks.  Our  circumstances  are 
indeed  desperate.  Yesterday  we  had 
some  money,  and  Fontaine  bought  two 
loaves  of  bread.  I  reproached  him  for 

22 


Romance  of  Marsac 

his  extravagance  in  buying  so  much 
bread." 

With  these  words  Marsac  managed 
to  cover  dexterously  a  box  of  cigars  on 
the  table,  which  Madame  Fleury  had 
not  noticed. 

"  That  is,  indeed,  poverty,"  said 
Madame  Fleury,  with  some  feeling ; 
and  Marsac,  seeing  she  was  a  little 
touched,  continued  eagerly,  — 

"  We  have  tried  everything.  I  sent 
a  play  to  a  manager,  and  the  only  no 
tice  he  has  taken  of  it  has  been  to 
write  me  that  he  did  n't  believe  it 
would  draw.  Of  course  it  won't  draw, 
shut  up  in  the  manager's  strong  box. 
I  never  expected  it  to  draw  until  it  was 
produced.  I  sent  it  under  the  name  of 
Fontaine,  as  being  more  aristocratic 
than  Marsac.  Fontaine,  you  know, 
has  graveyards  full  of  noble  ancestors, 
while  I,  like  Napoleon,  am  the  first  of 
my  family.  Then  I  sent  a  picture, 
called  '  A  Rough  Sea,'  to  the  Salon, 
also  under  the  name  of  Fontaine. 
23 


The  Sprightly 

One  of  the  judges  said  the  thing  made 
the  whole  committee  ill,  —  it  was  so 
realistic,  I  presume,  —  and  yet  they 
rejected  it." 

Madame  Fleury's  eyes  softened,  and 
with  a  glint  of  a  ct  widow's  smile  " 
upon  her  handsome  mouth,  she  said 
gently,  after  a  moment,  "  Have  you — - 
has  either  one  of  you  —  ever  thought 
of —  ahem  !  —  marriage,  as  a  way  out 
of  your  troubles  ?  " 

"  Often,"  answered  Marsac,  promptly, 
—  "that  is,  for  Fontaine.  He  was  to 
be  the  victim,  —  the  Iphigenia,  so  to 
speak.  As  for  myself,  there  are  two 
things  I  dread,  —  death  and  marriage. 
I  must  die,  but  I  need  not  marry.  I 
have  sworn  I  will  never  be  taken 
alive." 

Madame  Fleury  blushed,  smiled,  and 
murmured,  "  More  men  marry  than 
don't.  Most  of  them  marry  without 
a  qualm." 

u  True,"  answered  Marsac,  gravely  ; 
u  and  there  are  men  who  will  pick  up 
24 


Romance  of  Marsac 

a  poisonous  snake  and  dangle  it  in  the 
air.  But  I  am  not  one  of  them.  I 
have  no  taste  for  dangling  poisonous 
snakes.  I  am  afraid  of  them." 


"  And  how  stands  Monsieur  Fontaine 
on  this  subject  ?  " 

"  He  is  brave  to  rashness.  I  be 
lieve  him  fully  capable  of  marrying. 
In  fact,  Fontaine  seems  to  have  a  pen* 
25 


The  Sprightly 

chant  for  Mademoiselle  Claire  Duval, 
daughter  of  Duval  the  rich  old  brewer." 

"  There  is  a  niece  —  Mademoiselle 
Delphine  Duval — who  has  just  gone 
to  live  with  them,"  said  Madame 
Fleury,  who  liked  to  show  her  knowl 
edge  of  the  acquaintances  of  the  two 
young  men. 

"  I  had  not  heard  of  that.  The 
truth  is,  since  we  pawned  our  evening 
clothes  we  have  not  seen  anything  of 
the  Duvals.  However,  as  Fontaine 
could  not  marry  Claire  until  he  paid 
his  debts,  and  he  could  not  pay  his 
debts  until  he  married  Claire,  the 
matter  seems  to  have  settled  itself." 

Madame  Fleury  assumed  a  striking 
attitude  in  her  chair,  and  then  began 
to  speak,  with  an  insinuating  softness 
in  every  word  and  glance  and  motion  : 
"  You  have  told  me  much  about  you 
and  your  friend  ;  now  I  will  tell  you 
something  about  myself,  and  it  may 
result  in — in  —  an  arrangement  mutu 
ally  advantageous."  Her  voice  sank  to 
26 


Romance  of  Marsac 

a   mere   whisper.     "  As  you    know,  I 
am  a  widow." 

"  Certainly,"  replied  Marsac.  "  I 
knew  it  the  very  first  moment  I  saw 
you  :  you  had  such  a  cheerful  air." 

"  I  have  every  reason  to  look  cheer 
ful.  The  late  Monsieur  Fleury  was 
nothing  but  a  trouble  to  me,  from  the 
hour  I  married  him  until  the  day  the 
news  was  brought  me  that  his  body 
had  been  found  in  the  river." 

u  Gracious  powers  !  "  cried  Marsac, 
in  astonishment  ;  "  was  not  the  late 
Monsieur  Fleury  an  angel  ?  " 

"  No,"  answered  Madame  Fleury ; 
u  and  I  don't  believe  he  is  an  angel 
now,  either." 

"  Strange,  strange  !  "  murmured  Mar- 
sac.  "  A  departed  husband  not  an 
angel  !  This  is  a  phenomenon.  Al 
low  me  to  make  a  note  of  it ;  "  and 
taking  out  a  note-book,  he  gravely 
made  a  memorandum. 

u  A    husband,   Monsieur    Marsac,  is 
very  like  a  lobster  salad.     When  it  is 
27 


The  Sprightly 

good,  it  is  very  good,  and  when  it  is  bad 
it  is  intolerable.  Monsieur  Fleury  was 
very  bad.  At  last  he  sank  so  low  that 
he  became  janitor  in  a  medical  school. 
He  was  accused  one  day  of  stealing 
some  valuable  books  and  instruments, 
and  soon  after  his  body  was  found  in  the 
Seine.  It  is  supposed  he  committed  sui 
cide,  knowing  himself  to  be  guilty.  I  did 
not  see  the  body,  and  tried  to  avoid  all 
associations  with  the  affair ;  but,  do 
what  I  could,  it  became  known  that 
he  had  once  been  my  husband.  I  find 
the  name  of  a  man  so  unpleasantly 
notorious  very  inconvenient  to  bear, 
and  I  should  like  to  change  it." 

Marsac,  after  listening  intently  to 
this,  buried  his  ears  in  his  hands  and 
appeared  to  be  thinking  profoundly  for 
some  minutes.  "  I  should  think,  Ma 
dame,"  he  said,  after  this  pause  of  re 
flection,  "  that  could  be  accomplished. 
The  authorities  on  application  will  per 
mit  you  to  change  your  name." 

Something  like  contempt  appeared  in 
28 


Romance  of  Marsac 

Madame  Fleury's  dark  eyes,  and  she 
responded  coldly,  "  I  should  also  like 
the  protection  which  the  name  of  some 
respectable  man  would  give  me." 

A  pause,  longer  and  more  awkward, 
ensued.  It  seemed  to  Marsac  as  if 
he  actually  felt  the  temperature  in  the 
room  falling  ten  degrees  every  second. 
For  once,  language  failed  him  ;  and  he 
heard  himself  saying,  in  a  quavering 
voice  and  almost  without  his  own 
volition,  — 

"  Would  that   I   were  a  respectable 


man 


Madame  Fleury  turned  her  dark 
eyes  on  him  and  drew  nearer.  Her 
breathing  quickened,  and  a  faint  pink 
rose  in  her  smooth  cheek,  and  she  said 
in  a  laughing  voice,  which  also  trem 
bled  a  little, — 

"  You  are  quite  respectable  enough 
for  me." 

Proposals  of  marriage  are  always 
embarrassing,  and  none  the  less  so 
when,  as  the  Breton  peasants  say,  "  the 
29 


The  Sprightly 

haystack  chases  the  cow."  Marsac 
felt  himself  suddenly  grow  hot,  and  as 
suddenly  grow  cold.  He  sat  quite 
near  Madame  Fleury,  her  half-laughing 
and  brightly  burning  eyes  fixed  on  him. 
Every  detail  of  her  elegant  and  correct 
morning  costume,  her  well-shod  feet, 
her  handsome  figure,  was  abnormally 
present  to  him.  But  he  found  it  im 
possible  to  raise  his  eyes  to  her  face. 
The  only  clear  idea  in  his  mind  was  a 
frantic  fury  towards  the  women  of  the 
present  day,  who,  he  foresaw,  would 
make  these  bad  quarters  of  an  hour, 
such  as  he  was  undergoing,  common 
enough  to  men  in  the  future. 

As  for  Madame  Fleury,  Marsac's 
embarrassment  was  not  lost  on  her  ; 
and  although  a  new  woman,  she  was 
still  a  woman,  and  womanly  pride  im 
pelled  her  to  control  the  slight  tremor 
of  her  nerves,  and  say  in  a  voice, 
studiedly  cold,  "  It  is  a  mere  matter 
of  business  and  of  convenience  with 
me." 

30 


Romance  of  Marsac 

This  gave  Marsac,  as  he  thought,  a 
loophole  of  escape,  and  he  said  hur 
riedly,  "  I,  Madame,  in  my  innocence, 
have  regarded  marriage  as  a  matter  of 
sentiment." 

Imagine  his  chagrin,  though,  when 
Madame  Fleury,  smiling  and  blushing 
like  a  girl,  replied,  "  Well,  Monsieur 
Marsac,  if  you  will  have  it  so  — 

Marsac  saw  in  a  moment  the  pit  he 
had  dug  for  himself,  but  he  preferred 
to  play  the  part  of  a  poltroon  to  step 
ping  into  it.  He  turned  and  fidgeted 
in  his  chair;  he  looked  out  of  the 
window,  down  at  the  street,  hoping  to 
see  Fontaine  returning,  and  every  mo 
ment  the  situation  grew  more  appalling. 
Presently  he  managed  to  say, — 

"  Until  he  is  forty,  a  man  is  too 
young  to  marry  ;  and  after  he  is  forty, 
he  is  too  old." 

Madame    Fleury    surveyed    him    all 

over,    with    a     cool     contempt     which 

seemed   to  leave   blisters  on   his  body. 

Then    a    brilliant    idea    came    to  him. 

31 


The  Sprightly 

He  glanced  at  Madame  Fleury,  and 
saw  as  well  as  felt  the  rage  rising  in 
her  heart  against  him.  He  tried  to 
speak  calmly  and  naturally,  but  his 
words  were  jerked  out  of  him  with 
stammering  and  stuttering, — 

"  You  are  very,  very  g-g-good,  Ma 
dame  ;  and  I  feel  more  pleased  — 
no,  no,  I  mean  honoured  —  than  I  can 
explain  —  express,  that  is.  But  you 
know  how  Fontaine  and  I  have  lived 
together  since  our  boyhood.  We  have 
nobody  but  each  other  ;  we  have  shared 
everything  as  brothers.  Now,  d-d-do 
you  think  it  quite  fair  that  I  should, 
like  a  pig,  accept  this  dazzling  offer 
without  giving  Fontaine  a  chance  ?  " 

It  was  blunderingly  enough  spoken, 
but  it  served.  Marsac  saw,  in  a 
moment,  that  Madame  Fleury  would 
much  rather  after  that  have  killed 
him  than  married  him  ;  and  when  she 
spoke,  her  cold  dignity  made  him  feel 
like  a  mouse  under  an  exhausted  air- 
receiver. 

32 


Romance  of  Marsac 

"  I  don't  know  but  that  you  are 
right,  after  all,  and  Monsieur  Fontaine 
is  really  the  superior  man,  and  conse 
quently  better  suited  to  me." 

The  door  at  that  moment  flew  wide 
open,  and  Fontaine  rushed  in,  —  his 
coat  a  mass  of  mud  and  rags,  and  his 
trousers  slit  from  the  knee  to  the  hip  ; 
and  he  did  not  have  Marsac's  shoes. 
Without  observing  Madame  Fleury, 
who  sat  a  little  to  one  side,  he  burst 
out, — 

"  It 's  no  good,  Marsac  ;  the  shoe 
maker  said  three  francs  or  no  shoes." 
Then  seeing  Madame  Fleury,  he 
stopped,  overwhelmed  with  embarrass 
ment.  Not  so  the  lady,  who  quietly 
remarked  to  Marsac,— 

"  This  accounts  for  the  story  of  the 
cabinet  dinner,  and  the  gout,  and  so 
on ; "  and  she  added,  with  an  air  of 
the  finest  sarcasm,  u  I  see  no  earthly 
reason  why  you,  Monsieur  Marsac, 
should  not  succeed  brilliantly  in  jour 
nalism." 

3  33 


The  Sprightly 

Marsac  was  quite  disposed  to  let 
Fontaine  take  his  part  of  the  situation 
then,  and  said  not  a  word  ;  but  Fon 
taine  exclaimed, — 

"  I  know  what  you  have  come  for, 
Madame  Fleury.  It  is  the  rent.'' 

"  Then  you  show  very  superior  in 
telligence  to  Monsieur  Marsac,  as  I 
had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  making 
him  understand  what  I  came  for," 
responded  Madame  Fleury. 

u  I  am  awfully  sorry,"  kept  on  Fon 
taine,  "  but  we  have  n't  a  sou  except 
this,"  •  —  holding  out  two  francs,  — 
"  and  I  had  an  accident  on  the  way, 
and  ruined  my  only  coat  and  trousers, 
and  Marsac  has  no  shoes,  and  I  don't 
know  what  we  shall  do."  Fontaine 
stopped,  half  crying. 

"  I  can  suggest  something,"  said 
Madame  Fleury,  showing  an  amazing 
calmness.  u  Not  to  go  over  the  same 
ground  twice,  I  have  determined  to 
change  my  name  and  condition  ; 
and  —  "  Here  she  paused  for  effect, 
34 


Romance  of  Marsac 

and   Marsac   came   unexpectedly  to  her 
assistance. 

"  Fontaine,"  said  he,  solemnly,  "  I 
have  been  a  true  friend  to  you.  As 
soon  as  Madame  Fleury  mentioned 
this,  I  offered  her  your  hand." 

Fontaine  looked  at  Marsac,  suppos 
ing  either  he  himself  or  his  friend 
had  gone  crazy ;  but  Marsac's  cool 
demeanour  proved  that  he  at  least 
was  sane.  Fontaine,  with  -his  mouth 
open,  but  dumb  with  astonishment, 
gazed  first  at  Marsac  and  then  at 
Madame  Fleury. 

"  He  is  speechless  with  happiness," 
cried  Marsac.  u  I  knew  he  would  be 
delightedo  You  see,  marrying  runs 
in  Fontaine's  family.  His  father  and 
mother  were  married,  and  his  grand 
parents  on  both  sides  were  married  ; 
and  even  his  great-grandfathers  and 
great-grandmothers  were  married.  Is  n't 
that  so,  Fontaine  ?  " 

Fontaine,  still  dazed,  mumbled,  "  I 
don't  know." 

35 


The  Sprightly 

"  Fie,  you  bad  man  !  "  replied  Mar- 
sac,  laughing.  ct  Pray,  Madame  Fleury, 
don't  believe  that.  I  know  what  I  am 
talking  about,  and  I  assure  you  that  all 
these  people  in  Fontaine's  family  were 
married." 

Madame  Fleury  then  rose  majesti 
cally.  "  Gentlemen,  this  matter  must  be 
settled  at  once.  You  have  your  choice, 
—  a  marriage,  or  an  eviction  within 
twenty-four  hours,  and  all  the  arrears 
of  rent  paid." 

Fontaine,  who  was  gradually  return 
ing  to  his  senses,  said,  "  But,  Madame, 
it  is  impossible.  Marsac  has  no  shoes ; 
I  have  no  clothes  — " 

"  If  you  do  not  choose  to  accept  my 
proposition,  Monsieur  Fontaine,"  coolly 
interrupted  Madame  Fleury,  tc  you  will 
be  put  into  the  street  within  twenty- 
four  hours  ;  and  when  vou  reach  the 
street,  you  will  be  arrested  for  non 
payment  of  rent." 

"  And  if  I  go  into  the  street  without 
any  coat  or  trousers,  I  shall  certainly 

36 


Romance  of  Marsac 


be  arrested,"  answered  Fontaine,  des 
perately. 

Madame   Fleury  shook   her  head,  as 
if  the  whole  affair  were  nothing  to  her. 


Marsac,  advancing  to  Fontaine, 
whispered  in  his  ear,  u  Promise  her. 
Promising  is  n't  marrying,  you  know. 
You  promise  her." 

"  No,  you  do  it." 

"  I  can't.  She  won't  have  me.  You 
do  it.  I  have  known  several  men  who 
37 


The  Sprightly 

have  escaped  with  their  lives  from 
widows." 

Fontaine,  thus  urged  by  Marsac, 
whom  he  had  never  resisted  in  his  life, 
looked  helplessly  from  his  friend  to  his 
landlady,  and  from  his  landlady  back  to 
his  friend.  After  all,  promising  was 
not  marrying,  and  it  was  worth  a  good 
deal  to  get  her  out  of  the  room. 

Madame  Fleury  brought  matters  to 
a  crisis  by  asking,  smiling,  "  Which 
shall  it  be,  gentlemen,  —  an  engage 
ment  or  an  eviction  ?  " 

Fontaine  could  not  bring  himself  to 
say  the  word,  but  he  submitted  silently 
when  Marsac,  taking  his  hand,  led  him 
to  Madame  Fleury,  and  placing  their 
hands  together  said,  with  something 
dangerously  near  a  wink,  — 

"  Take  the  lovely  hand  held  out  to 
you.  Ouaff  the  cup  of  happiness  held 
to  your  lips.  Madame  Fleury,  you 
will  exchange  for  your  present  name 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  names 
among  the  great  families  of  France," 

38 


Romance  of  Marsac 

—  which   was    true    enough   as    far  as 
Fontaine's  name  was  concerned. 

Madame  Fleury,  whose  principle  it 
was  to  get  through  quickly  with  an 
awkward  business,  asked  Marsac  to  sit 


down  and  write  out  a  little  agreement, 
to  be  signed  by  Fontaine  and  herself. 
"  And  it  might  be  as  well,"  she  added, 
"  to  name  the  date  of  the  fulfilment  of 
this  promise.  Let  me  see,  —  this  is 
the  2Oth  of  February." 
39 


The  Sprightly 

She  paused  and  reflected.  Marsac, 
who  had  seated  himself  at  the  table, 
reflected  too  ;  and  then  after  a  moment 
he  said, — 

"The  3 ist  of  April." 

"There  is  no  3ist  of  April,"  replied 
Madame  Fleury. 

"  The  first  of  April  would  seem 
appropriate,"  kept  on  Marsac,  very 
gravely. 

"  Don't  trouble  yourself  to  be  sarcas 
tic,  Monsieur  Marsac,"  replied  Madame 
Fleury,  with  cutting  emphasis.  "  It 
would  do  admirably  if  I  were  marrying 
you,  but  otherwise,  not." 

"  The  twenty-ninth  of  February, 
then." 

"  This  is  not  leap  year." 

"  Oh,  I  thought  it  was." 

Madame  Fleury  did  not  condescend 
to  notice  this  fling  ;  and  Marsac,  writ 
ing  very  slowly,  proceeded  to  draw  up  an 
informal  agreement  to  marry,  between 
Marie  Fleurv  and  Auguste  Fontaine. 

Fontaine  had  dropped  limp  upon  a 
40 


Romance  of  Marsac 

chair,  and  sat  with  his  head  buried  in 
his  arms,  the  picture  of  misery.  But 
awkward  and  humiliating  as  it  was,  he 
had  not  the  smallest  doubt  that  Marsac, 
whom  he  thought  capable  of  meeting 
any  emergency,  would  eventually  get 
him  out  of  the  scrape. 

When  Madame  Fleury  had  signed 
the  paper,  Marsac  called  Fontaine,  who 
remained  motionless,  without  lifting  his 
head. 

"  That  's  his  way  of  showing  he  is 
pleased,"  explained  Marsac  in  the 
most  serious  manner.  "  I  told  you  he 
would  be  delighted,  and  I  know  at  this 
moment  he  is  revelling  in  rapture ; 
only  he  has  rather  a  singular  manner 
of  showing  it." 

"  He  has,  indeed,"  said  Madame 
Fleury  ;  u  but  I  am  vain  enough  to 
think  that  it  is  merely  the  suddenness 
of  the  affair  which  has  somewhat  dis 
concerted  him." 

Fontaine,  almost  dragged  out  of  his 
chair  by  Marsac,  sullenly  signed  the 


The  Sprightly 

paper;  and  after  taking  possession  of  it, 
and  recommending  him  to  act  in  good 
faith  with  her,  Madame  Fleury  departed, 
with  the  air  of  a  person  who  has  made 
a  successful  stroke  of  business. 

As  soon  as  she  was  gone,  Fontaine 
with  a  loud  groan  threw  himself  on  the 
sofa.  Even  Marsac  began  to  be  some 
what  frightened  at  the  turn  of  affairs. 
He  thought  it  not  unlikely  that  the 
prospect  of  marrying  a  handsome  young 
man  far  above  her  in  social  position 
might  be  really  in  Madame  Fleury's 
mind.  But  he  would  not  mention  his 
fears  to  Fontaine ;  and  as  soon  as 
Madame  Fleury  was  safely  out  of 
hearing,  Marsac  contrived  to  raise  a 
burst  of  rather  hollow  and  hysterical 
laughter. 

u  To  think  she  should  imagine  that 
she  could  trap  us  in  any  such  way  as 
that!  Ha!  ha!" 

Fontaine's  reply,  from  the  depths  of 
the  sofa,  was  something  between  a 
groan  and  a  howl,  and  he  moaned, 
42 


Romance  of  Marsac 

"  You  know,  Marsac,  I  love  Claire 
Duval  ;  and  this  devilish  Madame 
Fleury  has  my  written  promise  —  " 

"  A  bagatelle  !  "  cried  Marsac,  still 
keeping  up  the  pretence  of  laughter 
"  Do  you  suppose  I  would  have  let 
you  get  into  such  a  trap  if  I  could 
not  have  got  you  out  ?  " 

This  gave  some  comfort  to  Fon 
taine,  who  had  sublime  faith  in  Marsac's 
powers  as  well  as  his  friendship.  But 
in  spite  of  all  his  efforts,  Marsac  pretty 
soon  had  to  give  up  the  hilarious  view 
of  the  situation.  Fontaine  lay  on  the 
sofa,  groaning,  kicking,  and  occasion 
ally  sighing  out  the  name  of  Claire 
Duval.  Marsac  looked  out  of  the 
window  at  a  prospect  made  up  chiefly 
of  chimney-pots  and  a  fine  small  rain 
that  began  to  fall,  and  for  the  first  time 
realised  their  truly  desperate  situation. 
After  half  an  hour  of  silence  on  his 
part,  and  complainings  on  Fontaine's? 
a  shadow  of  his  old  spirit  came  back 
to  Marsac. 

43 


The  Sprightly 

"  If  one  of  us  only  had  a  rich  rela 
tion  we  could  murder !  But  I  don't 
believe  any  two  fellows  in  the  world 
have  so  few  near  relations  as  we." 

Fontaine  by  this  time  was  sitting 
up  on  the  sofa,  his  head  in  his  hands. 
Presently  he  said,  with  gloomy  in 
difference,  — 

"  I  had  an  uncle,  an  American,  — 
Uncle  Maurice,  —  who  has  not  been 
in  France  for  twenty-five  years;  and 
the  last  we  heard  of  him,  he  was  living 
on  fifteen  cents  a  day  in  New  York. 
Then  we  heard  in  a  roundabout  way 
that  he  was  dead  ;  but  he  had  nothing 
to  leave  anybody." 

"Very  likely,"  sighed  Marsac.  "  An 
American  and  his  money  are  soon 
parted." 

The  next  moment,  Fontaine  believed 
that  the  last  and  greatest  of  misfortunes 
had  befallen  his  friend ;  for  Marsac, 
leaping  up,  began  to  charge  about  the 
room,  shouting  at  the  top  of  his  lungs. 

"  Hurrah  !  Hurrah  !  Your  Uncle 
44 


Romance  of  Marsac 

Maurice  has  died,  and  has  left  you  a 
fortune  !  Huzza  !  What  a  glorious 
idea  !  Huzza  for  Uncle  Maurice  !  " 

Fontaine,  stunned  at  first,  went  up 
to  Marsac,  who  was  capering  wildly 
about,  and  in  a  voice  tremulous  with 
apprehension,  and  himself  deadly  pale, 
said,  "  My  dear,  kind  Marsac,  be  quiet, 
pray.  You  have  taken  our  misfortunes 
too  much  to  heart,  and  they  have  un 
balanced  you.  Sit  down  awhile ;  I 
have  some  money,"  •  —  the  poor  lad 
had  not  a  sou  but  the  two  francs,  — 
"  quite  enough  for  several  days." 

It  was  piteous  to  see  his  weak  pre 
tences.  He  rattled  the  two  francs  in 
his  pocket  and  tried  to  smile.  Marsac, 
seeing  the  dreadful  thought  in  Fon 
taine's  mind,  stopped  his  whooping, 
and  seizing  Fontaine  in  his  arms, 
cried  out, — 

"  You  honest   little  simpleton  !      Of 

course     Uncle     Maurice     has  n't    just 

died   and   left    you   a    fortune ;    but   let 

the  world  think  so,  and   see  if  our  for- 

45 


The  Sprightly 

tunes  are  not  made !  How  would  a 
paragraph  like  this  sound  in  the  papers  : 
1  We  are  happy  to  announce  that  Mon 
sieur  Auguste  Fontaine,  the  brilliant 
young  journalist,  has  inherited  a  for 
tune  of  —let  me  see,  it  's  as  easy  to 
give  you  two  million  francs  as  one  mil 
lion  — '  from  his  lately  deceased  uncle, 
Monsieur  Maurice  Fontaine  of  New 
York,  the  celebrated  '  — wine-importer, 
I  should  say ;  that  's  a  good  decent 
business.  I  can  work  the  paragraph 
up  more  ;  tell  about  your  Uncle  Mau 
rice  going  against  the  traditions  of  his 
family  in  entering  trade,  and  all  that 
sort  of  thing.  Trust  me  to  get  it  up  !  " 
Fontaine  was  so  delighted  at  finding 
Marsac  was  not  crazy  after  all,  that  he 
could  do  nothing  but  hug  him  and  say, 
"  Marsac,  I  was  so  frightened  when 
you  began  to  talk  so  ;  and  you  may  kill 
all  my  uncles  and  aunts,  if  you  can 
find  any  to  kill.  Bat  will  —  will  this 
dazzling  story  be  believed  about  Uncle 
What  's-his-name  ?  " 
46 


Romance  of  Marsac 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  replied  Marsac, 
in  high  good-humour,  "  don't  you  know 
there  is  a  large  section  of  the  human 
race  that  goes  about  actually  begging  to 
be  humbugged  ?  Did  you  ever  know 
a  wildly  improbable  story  started  yet 
that  was  n't  readily  believed  ?  And 
the  more  it  is  contradicted,  the  more 
it  is  believed.  At  any  rate,  it  can't  do 
us  any  harm  ;  nothing  can  harm  us  in 
our  present  straits." 

"Well,  if  people  should  believe  in 
Uncle  Maurice,"  began  Fontaine,  anx 
iously  ;  but  Marsac  cut  him  short. 

"  Believe  in  Uncle  Maurice  !  Why, 
I  believe  in  him,  and  I  created  him 
myself,  —  that  is,  our  Uncle  Maurice. 
Dear  kind  old  chap  !  I  feel  as  if  I  had 
just  shaken  hands  with  him." 

"  But,"  persisted  Fontaine,  "  if  Ma 
dame  Fleury  should  believe  in  him  and 
the  fortune,  would  n't  it  be  that  much 
more  difficult  for  me  to  escape  from 
her  ?  " 

u  We  should  be  in  that  much  better 
47 


The  Sprightly 


condition  to  fight  her.  No,  my  boy, 
don't  refuse  a  fortune  of  two  million 
francs  even  on  paper.  Why,"  con 
tinued  Marsac,  producing  from  a  corner 
his  palette,  brushes,  and  an  unfinished 
portrait  of  a  Spanish  bull-fighter, 
"  look  !  I  will  make  you  a  portrait 
of  Uncle  Maurice  ;  " 
and  with  a  few  bold 
strokes  the  bull-fighter 
assumed  the  appear 
ance  of  a  hale  old 
gentleman  of  sixty,  in 
a  black  coat  and  a 
white  tie.  "  But  there 
is  no  time  to  lose," 
cried  he,  throwing 
down  his  palette  and 
brushes.  u  It  ought  to  be  in  the  after 
noon  papers.  There  is  the  clock  on 
the  church-tower  striking  eleven, —  I 
shall  have  time  yet  before  they  go  to 
press.  Give  me  your  shoes  —  Fon 
taine  kicked  them  off,  and  Marsac  put 
them  on.  "  And  your  hat  is  better 
48 


Romance  of  Marsac 

than  mine  — "  Fontaine  ran  and 
fetched  the  hat.  "  Let  me  see  ;  the 
paragraph  ought  to  be  written  out." 
Marsac  seated  himself  at  the  table,  and 
Fontaine  hung  over  him,  while  he  rap 
idly  wrote  half  a  page,  and  then,  rising 
and  going  out,  cried  :  "  Keep  up  your 
heart,  old  boy  !  You  are  not  married 
yet ;  you  are  a  long  way  off  from  being 
Monsieur  Fleury  !  " 

Left  alone,  Fontaine  remained  silent 
and  overwhelmed  at  the  various  and 
startling  incidents  which  had  befallen 
him  that  morning.  "  How  little  one 
knows,"  he  thought,  "  what  an  hour 
may  bring  forth  !  It  is  now  eleven 
o'clock :  since  ten  o'clock,  I  have 
become  engaged  to  be  married  ;  I 
have  found  a  long-lost  uncle ;  he 
has  died,  and  left  me  two  million 
francs." 

A   slight   sound   caused  him   to  raise 

his   head,  and  he    saw  a   letter  pushed 

under  the  door.      He  ran   forward  and 

opened   it,  and  then   literally   fell  over 

4  49 


The  Sprightly 

on  his  chair  with   amazement  and  cha 
grin.      The  letter  ran,  — 

MY  DEAR  NEPHEW  AUGUSTE,  —  The  re 
port  which  reached  my  family  that  I  was  dead 
was  erroneous.  I  am  very  much  alive,  and 
think  of  soon  revisiting  my  native  land.  I 
have  had  a  hard  struggle,  and  I  may  not  meet 
with  a  very  flattering  reception  from  my  family, 
of  whom  you  are  my  only  really  near  relative  ; 
but  I  feel  quite  able  to  take  care  of  myself.  I 
may  appear  at  any  moment  5  and,  until  we 
meet,  I  am 

Your  affectionate  uncle, 

MAURICE  FONTAINE. 

Fontaine  rallied  enough  to  run  to  the 
window  to  call  Marsac  back.  But  it 
was  too  late.  Marsac,  with  the  slip  of 
white  paper  in  his  hand,  was  just  turn 
ing  the  corner. 


f 

* 


5° 


1 1 


Romance  of  Marsac 


Chapter  II 

JV/IARSAC     returned     within     three 
hours,  to  be  confronted  by  Fon 
taine    with    a     pale     face     and     Uncle 
Maurice's    letter. 

For  once,  Marsac  was  staggered. 
The  paragraph  was  already  in  print, 
and  the  afternoon  papers  containing  it 
were  being  cried  on  the  street.  He 
read  the  letter  carefully,  then  laid  it 
down,  saving,  "  It  is  impossible  that  he 
should  return.  Living  on  fifteen  cents 
a  day  for  twenty  years  must  have  im 
paired  his  constitution  to  that  degree 
that  he  cannot  stand  the  voyage." 

Fontaine,  already  in  the  depths  of 
woe,  seemed  to  sink  deeper  and  deeper. 
Not  so  Marsac,  whose  cheerfulness 
never  left  him.  All  day  the  two  friends 
sat  in  their  garret,  unable  on  account 
51 


The  Sprightly 

of  Fontaine's  dilapidated  clothes  and 
Marsac's  want  of  shoes  to  go  out  and 
get  anything  to  eat, —  for  they  could 
still  go  to  a  restaurant  near  the  news 
paper  office  and  get  a  dinner  on  credit. 
They  both  shrank  from  admitting  their 
necessities  by  asking  for  an  advance  from 
the  business  office  of  their  newspaper. 

Marsac  spent  the  day  in  patching 
and  cleaning,  with  awkward  industry, 
Fontaine's  torn  coat  and  trousers. 
Never  had  Fontaine  loved  and  ad 
mired  him  more.  He  sang  and  whis 
tled  all  day  long,  made  jokes,  and 
pretended  that  doing  without  food  and 
fire  was  rather  an  amusing  experience. 
At  nightfall  he  held  up  the  torn  and 
soiled  coat  and  trousers  for  inspection. 
The  poor  fellow  had  done  his  best, 
but  they  were  clearly  not  presentable. 
Not  even  then  did  his  courage  and 
spirits  desert  him.  He  laughed  at  his 
own  failure,  and  said  gaily,  — 

u  Well,  my  boy,  what  a  tale  this 
will  make  to  tell  when  we  get  rich  ! 
52 


Romance  of  Marsac 


For  half  the  pleasure  of  rich  people 
consists  in  telling  how  happy  they 
were  when  they  had  not  a  second 
shirt  to  their  backs." 

At  that  moment  a  servant  in  the 
establishment  opened  the  door  without 
ceremony,  and  thrust  in  a  huge  box, 
with  the  name  of  "  Charlevois,  Tailor," 
on  it.  Scarcely  was  the 
door  shut,  when  the  two 
young  men  tore  open 
the  box.  There  lay 
several  suits  of  the 
handsomest  mourning 
clothes  imaginable,  with 
hats  and  gloves  to  match; 
and  on  top  of  everything  was 
pinned  a  letter.  It  was  from 
Charlevois,  one  of  the  best  tailors  in 
Paris,  saying  that  he  had  taken  the  lib 
erty  of  sending  Monsieur  Auguste  Fon 
taine  several  suits  of  clothes,  asking  his 
inspection  of  them.  He  had  read  in 
the  papers  that  evening  of  Monsieur 
Maurice  Fontaine's  death,  and  would 
53 


The  Sprightly 

be  glad  to  supply  Monsieur  Auguste 
Fontaine's  mourning.  Also  that  his 
son  was  in  the  stationery  business, 
and  had  enclosed  some  samples  of 
stationery. 

The  two  young  men  gazed  intently 
at  each  other.  Then,  without  a  word, 
Fontaine,  with  Marsac's  help,  put  on 
an  evening  suit,  and  then  a  top-coat, 
with  crape-covered  hat  and  black  gloves. 
He  certainly  looked  very  handsome  in 
his  new  outfit.  It  was  almost  the  first 
time  in  his  life  that  he  had  ever  been 
really  well  dressed,  and  the  elegantly 
simple  costume  brought  out  his  aristo 
cratic  beauty.  Marsac  looked  at  him 
with  the  delight  of  a  mother  over  a 
beautiful  daughter  dressed  for  her  first 
ball.  Fontaine  walked  up  and  down, 
surveying  himself  with  satisfaction  in 
the  cracked  mirror.  He  examined  his 
old  coat  and  trousers, — they  looked 
worse  than  ever  by  comparison.  His 
silence  said  eloquently,  "  I  cannot  take 
these  gentlemanly  habiliments  off." 
54 


Romance  of  Marsac 

He  put  the  hat  on  his  head.  With 
Marsac,  he  moved  toward  the  door ; 
they  paused. 

"This  is  the  Rubicon,"  said  Marsac. 

u  The  Rubicon  is  passed,"  replied 
Fontaine,  stepping  out. 

They  went  to  the  restaurant  where 
they  had  credit  to  dinner,  and  were  seen 
by  twenty  persons  of  their  acquaint 
ance.  As  they  approached  the  desk, 
on  entering,  the  cashier,  a  handsome 
girl,  was  glancing  at  an  afternoon  paper 
containing  the  paragraph  about  Uncle 
Maurice.  She  recognised  Fontaine, 
whom  she  had  seen  before. 

"  Do  you  wish  a  private  room, 
gentlemen  ?  "  she  asked. 

u  Certainly,"  answered  Marsac,  sol 
emnly,  who  had  not  thought  of  it  be 
fore.  "  Auguste,  you  would  rather  not 
dine  in  public  to-day  ?  " 

Fontaine  shook  his  head,  and  the  two 
friends  in  silence,  Fontaine  with  his 
eyes  bent  on  the  mourning  hat  he  car 
ried,  went  into  a  private  dining-room. 
55 


The  Sprightly 

An  obsequious  waiter  brought  a  card. 
Marsac  ordered  an  excellent  dinner  with 
champagne. 

When  it  came  the  sight  of  it  was 
almost  too  much  for  the  poor  half- 
starved  young  fellows.  It 
was  the  first  time  they  had 
really  dined  in  weeks.  They 
made  an  excuse  to  send  the 
waiter  out  of  the  room, 
when  they  hugged  each 
other  and  began  to  dance 
wildly,  and  barely  had 
time  before  he  returned 
to  scuttle  back  to  their 
chairs  and  pull  long  faces 
while  they  devoured  fish, 
flesh,  and  fowl,  entrees, 
kors-<P aeuvres,  and  everything 
else  eatable  on  the  table. 
Marsac,  in  the  waiter's  absence,  begged 
Fontaine  to  spare  the  candelabra,  while 
Fontaine  caught  Marsac  in  the  act 
of  chewing  the  paper  ofF  the  marronr 
glaces. 

56 


Romance  of  Marsac 

"  This,"  said  Marsac,  while  the 
waiter  was  out  of  the  room  (for  they 
kept  him  on  the  trot),  "  may  be  called 
our  first  dress  rehearsal.  We  are  to 
appear  before  the  public  to-morrow,  — 
you  as  the  heir  of  your  Uncle  Maurice, 
I  as  the  friend  of  the  nephew  of  his 
uncle." 

"  Do  you  think  we  have  deceived 
the  waiter  ?  "  anxiously  asked  Fontaine. 

u  Perfectly,  He  never  saw  us  order 
such  a  dinner  before ;  but  I  hope  he 
will  see  us  order  a  good  many  more  like 
it.  Look  solemn  —  he  is  coming." 

And  the  waiter  coming  in  found 
Marsac  urging  Fontaine  to  eat,  who 
seemed  to  be  in  the  depths  of  despon 
dency.  When  the  time  came  for  fee 
ing  the  man,  Fontaine  said  sadly,  — 

"  You,  Marsac,  must  pay  to-night. 
I  forgot  I  had  changed  my  clothes." 

"  Certainly,"  replied  Marsac,  clap 
ping  his  hand  to  his  pocket  and  produc 
ing  the  two  francs  —  the  last  they  had 
on  earth,  which  he  had  taken  the  pre- 
57 


The  Sprightly 

caution  to  bring  with  him  —  and  hand 
ing  them  to  the  waiter.  Those  two 
francs  made  everybody  in  the  restaurant 
believe  the  story  of  Fontaine's  fortune. 

After  the  dinner,  which  lasted  for 
three  hours,  they  went  home,  and  Fon 
taine  wrote  a  note  on  the  black-edged 
paper  to  the  editor  of  their  paper,  "  La 
Lune,"  asking  for  leave  of  absence  for 
a  few  days,  owing;  to  the  loss  of  a  near 
relative.  Marsac  took  it  to  the  office. 
His  fellow-workers  crowded  round  him, 
asking  questions  about  the  paragraph 
which  had  appeared  that  afternoon. 
Marsac  confirmed  it,  but  declared  they 
had  not  got  any  particulars  as  to  the 
amount  of  the  fortune. 

"  But  I  should  say  it  will  be  under 
three  millions,"  he  added  with  entire 
accuracy. 

Next  day  Paris  rang  with  the  story. 
It  cannot  be  denied  that  both  Marsac 
and  Fontaine  were  a  little  frightened  at 
the  sudden  and  overpowering  success 
of  their  little  romance.  They  had  not 

58 


Romance  of  Marsac 

counted  upon  the  instant  and  enormous 
sensation  it  created.  But  there  was 
now  no  retreat  for  them.  Being  once 
committed  to  Uncle  Maurice,  they  had 
to  abide  by  their  own  invention  ;  and  it 
taxed  even  Marsac's  powers  to  meet 
the  emergency.  Fontaine  simply  de 
clared  that  he  could  not  face  the  world 
in  his  new  character,  and  kept  close  to 
his  lodgings,  to  avoid  interrogatories. 
Naturally  that  did  still  more  to  set 
the  story  on  its  legs  ;  and  when  he 
began  to  receive  letters  of  condolence 
mixed  with  congratulations,  and  was 
forced  to  reply  to  them  on  paper  with 
a  black  border  an  inch  deep  and  signed 
with  inky  sealing-wax,  even  he  him 
self  began  to  believe  that  his  Uncle 
Maurice  had  died  and  left  him  a 
fortune. 

Marsac,  who  was  remarkably  clever 
with  his  brush,  made  an  excellent  pic 
ture  of  Uncle  Maurice  out  of  the  trans 
formed  bull-fighter,  and  by  dint  of 
artistically  smoking  it,  the  newness  of 
59 


The  Sprightly 

the  paint  was  taken  off.  He  was, 
however,  simply  forced  to  invent  a 
biography  of  Uncle  Maurice,  with 
names,  dates,  and  events.  The  first 
time  he  was  asked  how  Uncle  Maurice 
made  his  money,  he  was  obliged  to  say 
how  ;  so  he  represented  that  it  was  all 
made  in  the  wine-importing  line. 

"  If  I  had  had  a  moment  to  think,  I 
should  have  said  mining  operations," 
he  said  to  Fontaine  afterward  ;  "  but 
taken  unawares,  I  hit  upon  the  wine- 
business.  And  then  I  had  to  explain 
that  he  went  against  the  traditions  of 
his  family  by  engaging  in  trade,  but 
was  immensely  successful,  so  they  for 
gave  him.  And  then  I  drew  a  noble 
picture  of  Uncle  Maurice,  —  for,  look 
you,  Fontaine,  as  we  have  profited  by 
the  old  gentleman,  the  least  we  can  do 
is  to  give  him  a  good  character.  I 
have  adorned  him  with  every  virtue. 
If  he  could  come  to  life,  I  am  sure  he 
would  be  pleased  with  the  reputation 
I  have  given  him." 
60 


Romance  of  Marsac 

u  But,  Marsac,  he  is  alive  !  That 
is  the  maddening  part.  Suppose  the 
real  Uncle  Maurice  should  come  walk 
ing  in  here  some  fine  day,  —  what 
would  you  say  ?  " 

"  I  should  say,  '  Good  morning, 
Monsieur  Fontaine  ;  delighted  to  see 
you.  Have  a  cigar  ?  We  heard  that 
you  were  dead.'  And  the  old  gentle 
man  would  be  so  pleased  at  finding 
himself  alive,  that  he  would  forgive  us 
anything." 

Among  the  first  persons  to  hear  the 
story  was  Madame  Fleury  ;  and  the 
hardest  task  before  Marsac  was  when 
he  was  stopped  by  her  in  the  entresol, 
one  morning,  with  an  inquiry  whether 
the  story  was  true  or  not  about  Fon 
taine's  uncle's  death. 

"  Alas  !  it  is  only  too  true,"  replied 
Marsac,  sorrowfully. 

"  I  think  Monsieur  Auguste  should 
have  informed  me  of  it,"  said  Madame 
Fleury,  "  considering  our  relations." 

u  Ah,  Madame,  you,  a  widow,  can 
61 


The  Sprightly 

have  no  idea  of  the  bashfulness  of  a 
young  man  like  Fontaine,  in  his  first 
love  affair.  The  relations  of  men  and 
women  are  so  changed  now.  I  am 
barely  thirty,  but  I  remember  when  it 
was  the  lady  who  was  diffident.  But 
the  last  diffident  woman,  I  understand, 
has  been  secured  for  the  Jardin  des 
Plantes." 

Madame  Fleury  heard  this  with  a 
smile  playing  round  her  handsome 
mouth.  "  I  hardly  think  that  the  en 
gagement  between  Monsieur  Auguste 
Fontaine  and  me  can  be  called  a  love 
affair.  It  was  a  business  arrangement, 
pure  and  simple.  However,  if  this 
story  about  his  Uncle  Maurice  and  his 
fortune  is  true,  then  I  shall  look  for 
ward  with  more  satisfaction  than  ever 
to  the  1 5th  of  May.  But  why  does 
not  Monsieur  Fontaine  call  to  see  me 
occasionally  ?  " 

u  Bashfulness,    Madame     Fleury,  — 
pure  bashfulness.      I  tell  you,  men  and 
women  have    changed    places.     I  pre- 
62 


Romance  of  Marsac 

diet  that  in  a  few  years  a  young  man 
will  no  more  think  of  calling  on  his 
fiancee  than  a  few  years  back  his  fiancee 
would  have  called  on  him." 

Madame  Fleury  heard  this,  uttered 
in  Marsac's  airiest  manner,  with  the 
same  inscrutable  smile.  When  Mar- 
sac  left  her  presence,  after  an  hour's 
laboured  explanations,  he  had  not  the 
slightest  certainty  whether  she  believed 
in  Uncle  Maurice  or  not.  He  rather 
thought  she  did  not,  from  her  last  re 
mark,  —  which  was  that  if  Monsieur 
Fontaine  really  had  inherited  two  mil 
lion  francs,  she  would  be  glad  to  have 
the  two  hundred  he  owed  her« 

However,  to  have  got  two  hundred 
francs  from  Fontaine  would  have  been 
like  getting  oysters  out  of  a  strawberry 
bed.  As  the  days  went  on,  he  got  a 
great  many  things,  like  the  mourning 
clothes  and  black-edged  paper  ;  and  he 
was  pursued  by  tradesmen  desiring  him 
to  open  accounts  with  them.  But  not 
a  franc  had  he.  His  absence  from  the 

63 


The  Sprightly 

newspaper  office  cut  off  his  small  salary 
there  ;  and  while  dining  at  his  favourite 
restaurant  every  day,  smoking  the  best 
cigars  and  enjoying  other  luxuries,  he 
often  had  not  one  sou  to  rattle  against 
another.  Marsac  kept  up  his  courage, 
though,  by  telling  him  that  something 
would  soon  turn  up  which  would  enable 
them  to  pay  their  debts,  escape  from 
Madame  Fleury's  house,  and  live  like 
lords.  And  when  that  happy  event 
was  accomplished,  Marsac  promised 
that  Fontaine  should  be  rid  of  Madame 
Fleury,  and  in  a  position  to  ask  the 
hand  of  Claire  Duval,  whom  Fontaine 
grew  every  day  more  passionately  in 
love  with,  although  it  had  been  months 
since  he  had  seen  her.  Whenever  Fon 
taine's  courage  failed,  Marsac  always 
held  out  to  him  the  hope  of  marrying 
Claire. 

"  Just  let  me  catch  old   Duval,  —  I 
don't   like  to  go  in  search  of  him," 
cried    Marsac,   "  and    I    will    give    him 
such    an   account  of  you    that  he  will 
64 


Romance  of  Marsac 

be  throwing  his  daughter  at  your  head. 
And  as  she  is  a  sweet  girl,  and  I  be 
lieve  is  really  in  love  with  you,  there 
will  be  a  marriage,  sure.  The  only 
thing  on  my  con 
science  is,  that  I 
am  putting  a  noose 
around  your  neck." 


M 


KSPS^W* 

m^m^ 

/  *  *i     —  •''•  '•'•  /*•.••  •••/<'»  ••.••  '.i  fit 
I     V':-"^^-^;  •  :-/M — ~"'J 


"  A    noose !      A 
garland,  you  mean  ! 
could     I     live    to 
have  Claire  for  my  wife! 
But  that  infernal  widow 
downstairs  — 

"  Don't  speak  of  your  fiancee  in  that 
disrespectful    manner,"    cried    Marsac, 
at   the    same   time    dodging    Fontaine's 
new  hat,  which  flew  in  his  direction. 
5  65 


The  Sprightly 

One  night  about  six  weeks  after 
Uncle  Maurice's  advent,  Fontaine  was 
in  their  garret,  waiting  for  Marsac  to 
return.  The  room  was  as  shabby  as 
ever,  but  Fontaine  was  dressed  in  the 
height  of  the  style,  although  still  in  the 
deepest  mourning.  His  bright  face,  as 
he  walked  about  whistling  jovially,  with 
his  hands  in  his  trousers  pockets  (which 
were  empty,  as  usual),  was  in  striking 
contrast  to  his  livery  of  woe.  Fontaine 
occasionally  had  spasms  of  fear  con 
cerning  their  ruse  ;  but  at  twenty-five, 
with  a  good  appetite,  and  enough  to 
satisfy  it,  with  love  and  hope  and  a 
friend  like  Marsac,  one  is  apt  to  whis 
tle  jovially.  In  one  corner  of  the  room 
was  a  table  with  a  delicious  supper  set 
out,  —  sent  from  the  restaurant,  which 
the  two  young  men  patronised  liberally. 
On  the  rickety  writing-table  lay  a 
letter,  bearing  the  stamp  of  one  of  the 
leading  theatres  in  Paris.  In  the  inter 
vals  of  walking  about,  and  wondering 
why  Marsac  was  so  late,  Fontaine 
66 


Romance  of  Marsac 


would  read  and  re-read  this  letter,  with 
the  most  evident  delight. 

At   last,  just  as  Fontaine  was  begin 
ning  to  be  impatient,  in  walked  Marsac, 
carrying    his    violin-case    in    his    hand. 
He  opened   it  with 
out  a  word,  and  took 
out    four    bottles    of  _ 

champagne.  Then 
in  solemn  silence  he 
removed  his  tall  hat, 
which  proved  to  be 
full  of  flowers,  and 
these  he  arranged  in 
the  middle  ,  of  the 
supper-table. 

u  What  are  you  up  to  now  ?  "  asked 
Fontaine,  in  surprise. 

"  Ladies  to   supper,"  gravely  replied 
Marsac. 

Fontaine  was  astounded.  Marsac 
habitually  ran  away  from  respectable 
women,  declaring  he  was  afraid  of 
them  ;  and  for  those  of  another  kind 
he  had  nothing  but  the  pity  of  a 
67 


The   Sprightly 


refined  and  honourable  soul,  which 
leaves  to  harder  hearts  and  more  evil 
natures  the  condemnation  of  those  who 
sin  because  they  are  sinned  against. 
Fontaine  uttered  only  one  word,  — 
«  Ladies  !  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Marsac  ;  "  that  is, 
they  are  ladies  to  me  and  to  you, — 
for  they  are  women, 
half-starved  and  hard 
working.  What  does 
it  matter  that  they 
are  ballet-girls  in  a 
third-rate  theatre  ? 
Listen.  As  I  was 
coming  home  just 
now,  I  saw  these 
two  poor  creatures 
standing  in  front  of  a  pastry 
shop  close  by,  eying  the  cakes 
in  the  window,  and  without  a  sou  to  buy 
anything  with.  I  overheard  them,  as 
they  sorrowfully  recalled  that  their  last 
franc  had  gone  in  white  satin  shoes  for 
the  ballet  next  week.  I  have  been  hun- 
68 


Romance  of  Marsac 

gry  myself,  and  so  have  you,  and  I  felt 
for  them  in  my  pockets  as  well  as  in  my 
heart ;  but  I  had  no  more  money  than 
they.  I  had  credit,  though,  thanks  to 
your  admirable  Uncle  Maurice,  and  a 
good  supper  at  home,  and  I  said  to 
them  that  for  once  they  should  be 
warmed  and  filled.  They  are  of  a 
grade  in  society  that  is  not  bound  by 
conventionalities,  and  were  quite  willing 
to  go  anywhere  for  a  good  meal.  So  I 
told  them  to  slip  by  the  concierge,  — 
they  will  be  here  in  a  few  minutes, — 
and  I  went  and  got  the  wine  and  the 
flowers  to  make  it  a  little  more  of  a 
feast  for  the  poor  souls ;  and  you  and 
I,  Fontaine,  will  be  the  better,  not  the 
worse,  for  this  night's  work." 

"  Marsac,  you  are  the  best  fellow 
that  ever  lived,"  cried  Fontaine,  hugging 
him.  Fontaine  was  always  hugging 
Marsac,  and  Marsac  always  responded 
by  a  pat  on  the  head,  such  as  a  father 
gives  a  small  boy.  "  And  read  this 
letter,"  he  continued,  thrusting  the  let- 
69 


The  Sprightly 

ter    in     Marsac's     hand.       It     ran    as 
follows  :  — 

M.  AUGUSTE  FONTAINE. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, —  Happening,  some  days  ago, 
to  read  an  account  of  your  deserved  good  for 
tune,  I  remember  having  had  some  correspond 
ence  with  you  regarding  a  play,  —  "A  White 
Marriage.' '  I  chanced  to  look  in  my  strong  box 
the  same  day,  and  there  discovered  the  play  it 
self,  where  it  had  lain  a  whole  year,  —  a  fate 
most  unworthy  of  its  great  merit,  and  which 
could  only  have  occurred  by  the  most  astonish 
ing  forgetfulness  on  my  part.  I  make  you  ten 
thousand  apologies,  and  assure  you  the  loss  is 
mine  ;  for  since  reading  the  piece,  I  beg  to 
have  the  honour  of  presenting  it  at  the  Gaiete 
Theatre.  You  have  written  a  play  which 
must  command  success  ;  for  I  cannot  under 
stand  it,  nor  can  the  public,  and  I  presume 
no  more  can  you.  All  you  have  to  do,  there 
fore,  is  to  have  it  presented,  and  then  sit  down 
and  wait  for  the  critics  to  explain  the  play  t^> 
you  as  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  Each  one  is 
bound  to  give  a  different  explanation  ;  they 
will  get  to  quarrelling,  and  your  fortune  will 
be  made.  It  is  essential,  in  the  drama  of 
to-day,  to  be  complex  5  and  when  you  are  so 
complex  that  nobody,  from  the  author  down, 
knows  what  the  devil  a  play  is  about,  or  what 
70 


Romance  of  Marsac 

problems  you  are  proving  or' disproving,  you 
will  be  placed  upon  the  same  pinnacle  with 
Ibsen,  Maaterlinck,  and  the  rest  of  the  Dutch 
Shakspeares.  Ibsen  or  a  skirt  dance  is  what 
goes  nowadays.  There  is  a  slight  tendency 
to  clearness  in  your  style,  which  must  be 
remedied  if  you  wish  to  be  a  really  great 
modern  dramatist.  And  your  play  is  not 
really  vicious  enough  :  the  wife  merely  gives 
her  husband  an  opiate  while  she  escapes  with 
her  lover,  instead  of  being  driven  by  an  imper 
ative  fate  to  give  him  about  a  quart  of  corro 
sive  sublimate.  But  these  are  minor  faults  in 
a  work  of  great  villany,  obscurity,  and  pro 
lixity,  which  I  hope  to  have  the  privilege  of 
presenting. 

Yours  truly, 

M.   SAVARY, 
Manager  of  the  Gaiete  Theatre. 

Fontaine  capered  about  gleefully, 
while  Marsac  read  this  letter,  and  then 
handed  him  another  note  which  seemed 
to  give  him  almost  equal  pleasure.  It 
was  from  a  picture-dealer,  and  briefly 
announced  that  an  offer  of  a  thousand 
francs  had  been  made  for  "  A  Rough 
Sea,"  and  he  hesitated  about  taking  it: 
there  was  a  price  marked  on  the  pic- 
71 


The  Sprightly 

ture,  —  fifty  something  ;  it  could  n't 
be  fifty  francs  ! 

"  But  it  was  fifty  francs,  all  the 
same,"  cried  Marsac ;  "  and  a  thou 
sand  francs  !  Good  heavens  !  We 
shall  be  as  rich  as  the  Rothschilds,  and 
we  shall  be  able  to  get  away  from  these 
quarters  and  that  dreadful  woman  down 
stairs,  and  I  shall  marry  you  to  Claire 
Duval  !  " 

Fontaine's  reply  to  this  was  hum 
ming  a  little  song  with  a  refrain, "  Claire, 
I  love  thee  !  "  which  presently  made 
him  sigh  and  look  very  gloomy.  Mar- 
sac,  who  knew  what  turn  his  thoughts 
were  taking,  said  slyly, — 

"  I  met  old  Duval  to-day." 

Fontaine  jumped  as  if  he  had  been 
shot.  u  And  what  did  he  say  ?  How 
is  Claire  ?  When  are  you  going  to  let 
me  out  of  this  infernal  confinement,  so 
I  can  go  to  see  the  darling  ?  " 

u  Fie !  fie  !  and  you  an  engaged 
man,"  cried  Marsac  ;  at  which  Fon 
taine  groaned  and  tore  his  hair.  "  But," 
72 


Romance  of  Marsac 

continued  Marsac,  "  I  have  some  good 
news  for  you.  Old  Duval  has  read  all 
the  accounts  of  Uncle  Maurice,  and 
has  the  most  childlike  faith  in  him  ;  and 
I  declare,  Auguste,  I  begin  to  believe 
in  the  old  fellow  myself.  Anyhow, 
Monsieur  Duval  talked  with  me  a 
whole  hour  this  afternoon,  and  you 
may  depend  upon  it  I  stuffed  him  ;  and 
the  result  is  —  now,  don't  go  crazy  — 
that  he  more  than  hinted  at  a  match 
between  you  and  Claire." 

Fontaine  fell  on  the  sofa  in  an 
ecstasy,  murmuring,  "  Dear,  darling 
Claire  !  " 

"  And  he  is  coming  to  see  you  very 
soon,  to  congratulate  you.  I  told  him 
you  were  going  nowhere  on  account 
of  your  recent  bereavement  ;  and,  listen 
to  this  !  The  old  fellow  wants  to 
oblige  you ;  and  as  I  mentioned,  by 
way  of  corroborative  testimony,  that 
you  were  looking  round  for  a  country- 
seat,  he  said  he  would  sell  you  a  villa 
he  has  at  Melun  for  ninety  thousand 
73 


The  Sprightly 

francs.  Now,  I  know  that  Maurepas, 
our  editor-in-chief,  is  wild  for  that 
villa ;  and  I  have  reason  to  think  he 
will  give  a  hundred  and  forty  thousand 
francs  for  it.  Do  you  see  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Fontaine.  "  I  buy  it 
for  ninety  thousand,  and  sell  it  for  a 
hundred  and  forty  thousand.  But  will 
it  work  ?  " 

u  Not  if  you  jump  down  old  Duval's 
throat  when  he  offers  it  to  you." 

"  I  sha'n't  be  able  to  prevent  it." 

"  Then  you  will  be  unworthy  of 
your  Uncle  Maurice,  and  I  shall  be 
sorry  to  have  provided  you  with  such 
a  relative." 

A  sound  was  heard  outside.  Mar- 
sac  listened  intently,  thinking  it  to  be 
his  two  friends  of  the  ballet  ;  but  it 
proved  not. 

"  I  wonder,  as  much  afraid  as  you  are 
of  women,"  said  Fontaine,  "  that  you 
should  have  had  the  courage  to  ask  those 
two  poor  creatures  here  even  for  the 
pleasure  of  doing  a  kind  action,  —  for 
74 


Romance  of  Marsac 

nothing  gives  you  so  much  pleasure  as 
that." 

"  Pooh  !  "  replied  Marsac.  "  It  is 
not  women  I  fear,  it  is  matrimony ; 
and  I  show  my  regard  for  the  sex  by 
remaining  a  bachelor.  I  feel  that  by 


not  marrying  I  shall  secure  one  woman, 
at  least,  from  eternal  misery." 

Again  there  was  a  noise  outside  the 
door  ;  and  this  time  it  was  the  two 
ballet-girls,  —  Mademoiselle  Marie  and 
Mademoiselle  Louise,  as  they  intro 
duced  themselves.  Marsac  received 
75 


The  Sprightly 

them  with  as  much  kindness  and 
respect  as  if  they  had  been  banker's 
daughters  ;  and  as  for  the  girls  them 
selves,  they  were  tawdry  yet  shabby, 
and  extraordinarily  painted  and  be 
dizened.  But  the  divinity  of  woman 
hood  was  not  extinguished  in  them, 
and  modesty  itself  would  not  have  been 
abashed  in  the  presence  of  the  four 
assembled  in  the  garret  of  No.  17 
Rue  Montignal. 

Mademoiselle  Marie  and  Mademoi 
selle  Louise  wished  to  be  extremely 
elegant  in  the  company  in  which  they 
found  themselves  ;  but  it  must  be  ad 
mitted  that  they  laughed  rather  loud, 
and  talked  excessively.  However,  their 
account  of  the  way  in  which  they 
slipped  past  the  entresol  was  very 
amusing,  and  the  two  young  men 
roared  with  laughter ;  and  then  the  fun 
began.  But  at  the  very  moment  that 
two  corks  flew  out  with  a  loud  report, 
the  door  came  open  with  a  bang,  and 
Madame  Schmid  stalked  in. 
76 


Romance  of  Marsac 

Not  Banquo's  ghost  made  a  greater 
sensation  at  a  party  than  this  stout  Al 
satian.  Fontaine,  following  his  usual 
tactics,  ran  behind  the  screen.  Ma 


dame  Schmid,  with  one  rapid  glance  at 
the  table  and  the  champagne,  uttered 
but  one  word,  "  Thieves  !  "  and  made 
a  dash  for  Fontaine,  whom  she  collared 
and  dragged  out. 

77 


The  Sprightly 

"  Oh,  you  pretty  boy,"  she  screamed, 
"  this  is  your  poverty,  —  champagne 
and  oysters  and  giving  parties,  when 
you  can't  pay  your  wash-bill  !  I  used 
to  feel  sorry  for  you  when  you  were  so 
poor  ;  but  now  I  know  you  are  rolling 
in  money,  with  twenty  million  francs 
left  you  in  America,  and  owing  a  poor 
woman  two  hundred  francs  for  wash 
ing, —  that  is,  you  and  that  slick- 
tongued  Marsac  yonder  !  " 

Marsac  was  not  "yonder,"  but  di 
rectly  behind  Madame  Schmid,  and 
holding  a  big  tumbler  of  champagne  in 
one  hand,  while  with  the  other  he  deftly 
seized  her  round  the  waist,  and  began 
pouring  the  champagne  down  her  throat. 
At  the  same  time  he  was  talking  her 
down  in  vigorous  tones,  shouting,— 

"  My  dear  girl,  you  really  ought  n't 
to  come  here.  It  will  ruin  our  repu 
tations  to  have  a  handsome  young  thing 
like  you  found  in  our  apartment." 

Madame  Schmid,  sputtering,  protest 
ing,  but  obliged  to  drink  the  champagne, 
78 


Romance  of  Marsac 

willy-nilly,  was  still  able  to  make  a 
good  deal  of  noise.  "  Oh,  you  hypo 
crite  !  you  can't  honeyfuggle  me  —  " 
Gurgle,  gurgle,  gurgle,  the  champagne 
-flowed  down  her  throat. 

"  Honeyfuggle  you  ?  Oh,  you  be 
witching  creature,  you  honeyfuggle  me  ! 
Another  glass,  Fontaine." 

Another  tumbler  followed  the  first, 
Madame  Schmid  trying  to  say,  "  Stop 
hugging  me,  you  impudent  — 

The  young  ladies  enjoyed  this  ex 
cessively  ;  and  before  the  second  glass 
was  wholly  disposed  of,  Madame 
Schmid  was  struggling  with  the  emo 
tions  produced  by  the  champagne, 
Marsac's  flattery,  and  wrath  at  her 
unpaid  bill,  but  being  a  thrifty  Alsatian, 
the  last  was  by  no  means  forgotten. 
Suddenly,  amid  all  the  laughing,  chok 
ing,  joking,  and  commotion,  a  voice 
was  heard  calling  at  the  foot  of  the 
stairs, — 

"  Monsieur  Marsac  !  Monsieur  Fon 
taine  !  open  the  door  and  help  me  up 
79 


The  Sprightly 

these  confounded  narrow  stairs  !  I  am 
not  built  for  such  Alpine  work  as 
this." 

"  Great  heavens  !  it  is  old  Duval  !  " 
exclaimed  Fontaine,  who  had  dropped 
limp  into  a  chair  at  the  first  sound  of 
this  voice. 

"  Go  and  keep  him  below  for  a  mo 
ment,"  said  Marsac  ;  and  with  wonder 
ful  quickness  he  hustled  the  two  girls, 
nothing  loath,  into  the  closet,  where 
they  willingly  shut  the  door,  tittering 
at  their  own  predicament.  It  was 
something  else,  though,  to  get  rid  of 
Madame  Schmid.  Marsac  had  almost 
to  drag  her  to  the  corridor  door,  she 
fighting  like  a  tiger,  and  Marsac  assur 
ing  her  that  it  would  forever  destroy 
them  should  a  young  and  handsome 
wonan  like  her  be  found  in  their  apart 
ment.  Barely  was  she  shoved  out, 
and  scarcely  had  Marsac  time  to  seat 
himself  in  a  meditative  attitude  with  a 
book,  when  Fontaine,  with  old  Duval, 
entered  ;  and  while  greeting  him,  Mar- 
So 


Romance  of  Marsac 

sac  could  hear  Madame  Schmid  pranc 
ing  up  and  down  the  corridor  in  her 
wrath. 

Monsieur  Duval,  broad,  rubicund, 
benevolent,  conceited,  and  with  the 
true  auriferous  air  which  belongs  to  the 
vulgar  rich,  congratulated  Fontaine  on 
his  accession  of  fortune.  Fontaine  re 
ceived  this  modestly,  while  Marsac 
eulogised  Uncle  Maurice  and  pointed 
out  the  goodness  indicated  in  every 
feature  of  the  portrait  hanging  on  the 
wall. 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  Monsieur  Duval, 
"  you  have  had  a  great  stroke  of  luck, 
young  man  ;  and  I  hope  you  will  be 
worthy  of  it." 

To  which  Fontaine  replied  that  he 
hoped  to  prove  himself  entirely  worthy 
of  his  Uncle  Maurice's  goodness. 

u  And  now,"  cried  Monsieur  Duval, 
swelling  out  his  waistcoat,  "  I  must 
tell  you  that  I  have  other  objects  in 
calling  to  see  you  to-night,  besides 
congratulating  you  on  your  good  for- 
6  81 


The  Sprightly 

tune.  One  is,  to  sell  you  a  piece  of 
property  at  Melun ;  and  the  other  is 
to  ask  you  both  to  dine  with  me  at 
my  Passy  villa  very  soon.  I  wish  you 
to  meet  my  niece  Delphine,  who  has 
lately  come  to  live  with  my  daughter 
and  me.  Would  to-morrow  suit  ?  " 

"  Perfectly,"  cried  Fontaine,  eagerly, 
but  was  checked  by  Marsac  with  a  look. 

"  I  think  you  have  the  poorest 
memory  I  ever  saw,"  said  Marsac, 
severely,  to  Fontaine.  "  Have  you 
forgotten  that  to-morrow  we  dine 

o 

with  the  Prince,  and  next  day  with 
the  Marshal,  the  day  after  with  the 
Archbishop  ?  " 

Duval,  a  little  staggered  by  these 
magnificent  names,  remarked,  "  I 
thought  you  told  me  to-day  that 
Monsieur  Fontaine  was  not  going  into 
society  on  account  of  his  mourning  ?  " 

"  So  he  is  not,"  coolly  responded 
Marsac.  "  These  are  merely  little 
family  affairs  with  people  we  have 
always  known." 

82 


Romance  of  Marsac 

This  did  not  make  old  Duval  any 
the  less  anxious  to  have  them,  and  he 
named  a  day  the  next  week,  which 
Marsac  and  Fontaine,  after  an  elabo 
rate  consultation  of  their  notebooks, 
finally  found  they  could  accept. 

"  And  now  about 
the  villa,"  said  the 
old  brewer,  standing 
with  his  feet  wide 
apart  and  his  thumbs 
in  his  waistcoat 
pockets.  "It's  a 
very  pretty  place  at 
Melun  ;  my  daugh 
ter  is  very  fond  of 
it ;  and  if  you  are 
looking  for  a  country  place,  Monsieur 
Fontaine,  you  could  not  do  better  than 
take  it,  at  ninety  thousand  francs." 

Fontaine,  remembering  Marsac's  in 
junction  not  to  be  too  eager,  hummed 
and  ha'd  a  little  for  effect.  He  was 
deeply  indebted  to  Monsieur  Duval 
for  his  offer;  ninety  thousand  was  a 
83 


The  Sprightly 

mere  bagatelle,  etc.  Old  Duval  per 
sisted,  and  his  motive  was  ridiculously 
clear ;  every  other  word  was,  "  My 
daughter  is  fond  of  the  Melun  place," 
— "  My  daughter  could  scarcely  be 
persuaded  to  leave  it  even  for  our 
finer  house  at  Passy." 

Marsac  urged  the  apparently  unwill 
ing  Fontaine  to  accept  the  offer,  men 
tioning  several  countesses,  duchesses, 
and  princesses  of  their  acquaintance 
who  thought  about  buying  places  at 
Melun.  At  every  mention  of  a  title, 
the  old  brewer  rose  to  the  bait,  and 
was  a  perfectly  happy  man  when  Fon 
taine  agreed  to  take  the  place  at  ninety 
thousand,  and  expressed  his  gratitude 
to  Monsieur  Duval  for  favouring  him 
with  the  purchase. 

The  old  man  then  got  on  the  sub 
ject  of  his  daughter,  varied  with  digres 
sions  on  his  niece  Delphine,  which 
seemed  to  amuse  him  very  much. 
"  A  fine,  handsome  girl  she  is,  but 
the  c  new  woman '  with  a  vengeance. 
84 


Romance  of  Marsac 

Believes  in  a  woman's  having  a  mis 
sion,  and  all  that,  and  is  as  deadly 
opposed  to  matrimony  as  our  friend 
Marsac,"  —  at  which  Monsieur  Duval 
cackled  and  chuckled  with  great  enjoy 
ment  for  some  time.  "  By  the  way," 
he  continued,  u  I  expect  her  and  my 
daughter  to  call  for  me  on  their  way 
from  a  dinner,  and  they  will  be  here 
before  long.  Monsieur  Fontaine,  will 
you  oblige  me  by  telling  the  porter 
to  direct  them  to  wait  awhile  in 
case  I  should  not  be  quite  ready  to 
go  ?  " 

Monsieur  Duval  had  an  object  in 
getting  Fontaine  out  of  the  way,  for 
the  moment  the  door  closed  upon  him, 
he  drew  his  chair  up  to  Marsac's,  and 
began  very  seriously,  and  mopping  his 
forehead  in  his  anxiety  :  "  You  know, 
Monsieur  Marsac,  I  have  always 
thought  extremely  well  of  Monsieur 
Fontaine  ;  and  now  that  he  has  come 
into  a  snug  fortune,  I  should  not  mind 
if  he  —  if  my  daughter  —  Here 

85 


The  Sprightly 

Monsieur  Duval  winked,  and  Marsac 
grinned  appreciatively. 

"  I  understand  perfectly,"  answered 
Marsac. 

"  About  ten  millions,  I  hear,"  re 
marked  Monsieur  Duval,  in  a  whisper. 

"  Oh,  no,  no  !  "  replied  Marsac, 
deprecatingly.  u  That  is  a  gross  ex 
aggeration.  I  give  you  my  word, 
Monsieur  Duval,  it  is  nothing  like 
that.  I  know  more  about  the  matter 
than  anybody  except  Fontaine,  and  I 
assure  you  that  it  is  but  two  millions." 

"  And  how  do  you  think  Monsieur 
Fontaine  feels  toward  my  daughter  ?  " 

Marsac  knitted  his  brows  thought 
fully.  "  I  really  don't  know,"  he  said 
at  last ;  "  I  have  never  heard  Fontaine 
mention  Mademoiselle  Claire  except  in 
general  terms ;  but  I  know  she  is  a 
very  charming  girl,  and  any  man  might 
be  glad  and  proud  to  have  her.  But, 
Monsieur  Duval,"  said  Marsac,  con 
fidentially,  4<  you  have  no  idea  how  the 
poor  fellow  has  been  persecuted  with 
86 


Romance  of  Marsac 

propositions  of  the  sort  since  his  Uncle 
Maurice's  death.  At  the  club  the 
dukes  and  marquises  are  sometimes 
four  deep  around  him,  all  with  an  eye 
on  having  him  for  a  son-in-law  ;  and 
as  for  the  widows,  the  poor  fellow  has 
had  to  insure  his  life  against  their  eat 
ing  him  up." 

This  whetted  old  DuvaPs  desire 
considerably.  Marsac,  seeing  this,  kept 
on. 

"  Now,  here  is  a  letter  from  the 
Prince  de  Landais,"  taking  up  Landais's 
bill,  —  "I  assure  you,  neither  of  us 
knows  the  man  except  in  a  business 
way  —  and  here  he  writes,  not  only 
wanting  Fontaine  to  marry  his  daughter, 
but  actually  asking  for  money  in  ad 
vance, —  about  six  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  francs,  —  and  he  takes  the  tone  of 
a  person  already  entitled  to  it  !  " 

"  A  wretched,  aristocratic  pauper  !  " 

cried    old    Duval,    indignantly.       "  At 

least,  the  man  who   marries   my  Claire 

will  not  have  a  worthless  father-in-law, 

87 


The  Sprightly 

like  this  Prince  de  Landais,  to  prey 
upon  him  !  " 

"  And  here  is  a  letter  from  Ma 
dame  Schmid,  or  rather  the  Baroness 
Schmid,"  —  Marsac  made  this  addition, 
seeing  how  quickly  Monsieur  Duval 
had  jumped  at  every  title  he  had 
named.  "She  is  very  particular  about 
her  title,  because  she  has  just  got  one. 
This  woman  is  a  great  swell,  but  a 
rude,  coarse  creature,  old  enough  to 
be  Fontaine's  mother,  and  was  once 
a  washerwoman,  I  am  told.  By  the 
way,"-  —here  Marsac  put  his  mouth  to 
old  Duval's  ear, — "  she  comes  to  this 
apartment  in  pursuit  of  him  !  He 
keeps  out  of  her  way,  refuses  to  answer 
her  letters,  and  then  she  pursues  him 
here  !  She  was  in  this  room  when 
you  were  announced  below,  and  it  was 
with  the  greatest  difficulty  we  got  her 
out.  She  is  in  the  corridor  still,  I 
believe." 

Marsac  rose,  and  taking  the  old 
brewer  by  the  hand,  they  tipped  to 
88 


Romance  of  Marsac 


the    corridor    door.      Monsieur    Duval 

knelt  down,   and  through  the  keyhole 

saw      Madame      Schmid 

rampaging  up  and   down 

the  corridor  like  a  caged 

lioness. 

"  Great  heavens  !  " 
whispered  old  Duval, 
"  no  one  can  blame 
Monsieur  Fontaine 
from  running  away 
from  such  a  woman  !  " 

Scarcely    were    the 
words      out     of     his 
mouth,     when,     Ma 
dame  Schmid  making  a  lunge  at  the 
door,  it  flew  open,  knocking   Monsieur 
Duval    sprawling.       Madame     Schmid 
dashed    in,  walking  over   the    prostrate 
Monsieur   Duval  as   if  he   had  been  a 
frog,   and    began    to   harangue    Marsac 
violently,  swinging  her  arms  about  like 
a  Dutch  windmill. 

"  Oh,  you  deceiver  !   I  know  it  isn't 
worth  while  to  do  anything  with  Mon- 
89 


The  Sprightly 

sieur  Fontaine,  —  you  have  him  under 
your  thumb  ;  but  I  will  bring  you  both 
to  terms,  that  I  promise  you.  And 
where  has  Monsieur  Fontaine  gone  ? 
You  have  spirited  him  out  of  the  way, 

—  I  know  it ;  you  do  it  every  time   I 
come  !  " 

Marsac's  only  reply  was  to  catch  her 
round  the  waist,  and  say  soothingly,  as 
he  dragged  her  back  to  the  door,  "  My 
dear  girl,  you  will  certainly  ruin  Fon 
taine's  reputation  if  you  act  in  this 
manner." 

"  I  don't  care  a  fig  for  my  reputa 
tion,"  bawled  Madame  Schmid,  —  "  it  is 
money  I  am  after  ;  and  money  I  mean 
to  have,  out  of  Monsieur  Fontaine  !  " 

Marsac  managed  to  get  her  outside 
the  door,  which  he  took  the  precaution 
to  lock  behind  her,  and  said  as  he  stepped 
back  into  the  room,  "  That 's  a  sample 
of  what  poor  Fontaine  has  had  to  put 
up  with  since  he  came  into  his  money. 
And  there  is  another  one  —  a  widow 

—  who  is   worse  than  all." 

9° 


Romance  of  Marsac 

"  Oh,  Jupiter  !  "  was  Monsieur  Du- 
val's  exclamation,  as  he  picked  himself 
up  off  the  floor,  and  dusted  his  knees 
and  elbows. 

"  A  very  handsome  woman,  a  com- 
tesse,  —  the  Comtesse  de  Fleury.  She 
got  a  written  promise  out  of  Fontaine, 
in  a  moment  of  weakness  —  you  under 
stand  ?  " 

"Yes — a  widow  and  a  moment  of 
weakness  !  I  understand,"  said  the 
old  brewer,  feelingly. 

"  It  is  n't  of  the  slightest  legal  value, 
though,  as  I  can  testify  that  it  was 
obtained  under  duress ;  and  Fontaine 
would  give  half  he  is  worth  to  get  rid 
of  her." 

As  Marsac  said  this  about  the  written 
agreement,  he  could  not  help  wishing, 
with  all  his  heart,  that  he  had  it  that 
moment  in  his  possession. 

Monsieur    Duval   reflected  seriously 

for  some  minutes  before  speaking.      u  I 

acknowledge   to  you,"  he  said,  "  that   1 

regard  a  widow  in  an  affair  of  this  sort 

91 


The  Sprightly 

as  a  person  to  be  reckoned  with  ;  and 
it  is  I  who  tell  you  so,  and  I  have  a 
head  on  my  shoulders.  Now,  I  hear 
you  have  great  influence  with  Monsieur 
Fontaine  —  " 

"  Not  a  particle,"  Marsac  protested 
vigorously. 

"  Nonsense  !  You  are  trying  to  fool 
me  !  But  I  will  say  this  to  you.  Tak 
ing  into  account  my  daughter's  fancy  for 
your  friend  Fontaine,  and  his  good  char 
acter  and  his  good  birth  and  his  fortune, 
if  you  can  bring  about  an  —  arrange 
ment —  you  understand  —  it  will  be  for 
the  happiness  of  the  young  people." 

"  I  would  do  anything  for  Fontaine's 
happiness,"  said  Marsac. 

"  Then,  could  n't  you  —  ahem  —  the 
widow —  Now,  you  are  yourself  a 
very  attractive  fellow.  Perhaps  the 
widow  might  make  an  exchange  ?  " 

"  Take  me,  do  you  mean  ?  My 
dear  sir,  I  would  do  anything  on  earth 
for  Fontaine  but  one  ;  and  that  is,  to 
get  married." 

92 


Romance  of  Marsac 


"  Ha  !  ha  !  That  's  the  way  Del- 
phine  talks." 

u  I  have  n't  the  remotest  idea  how 
to  make  an  offer.  It  would  be  like  a 
horse  trying  to  play  the  fiddle." 

"  Oh,  well,  you  need  not  mind  about 
that,  with  a  widow.  She  will  do  the 
business  for  you." 

"  She  shall  not  have  a  chance,  if  I 
can  help  it  —  that  is,"  stammered  Mar- 
sac,  as  he  recollected  that  Madame 
Fleury  had  already  proposed  to  him. 
"  To  be  very  confidential,  this  partic 
ular  widow  has  —  er  —  before 
entangling  Fontaine  —  in 
an  interview  with  me  —  " 
Marsac  stopped,  blush 
ing  ;  and  Monsieur  Du- 
val,  closing  one  eye, 
playfully  poked  him  in 
the  ribs. 

"  My  dear  young  friend," 
said  he,  with  an  air  of  supe 
rior  wisdom,   "  she    did    not    want 
very  much,  else  she  would    have 
93 


you 
had 


The  Sprightly 

you.       Even    I    have    had    to   use    all 

my  astuteness  to  keep  from  being  gob 
bled  up  by  widows.  Eternal  vigilance 
is  the  price  of  liberty  where  widows 
are  concerned.  But  if  you  won't 
listen  to  my  proposition  in  that  re 
spect,  I  am  sure  you  will  to  one  upon 
another  subject.  I  intend,  next  month, 
reorganising  my  breweries  into  a  stock 
company,  and  I  have  positive  assurances 
that  the  shares  will  command  a  pre 
mium.  If  you  and  your  friend  Fon 
taine  can  raise  ten  thousand  francs 
within  the  next  week,  I  can  let  you  in 
on  the  ground  floor  ;  and  within  three 
weeks  you  will  make  fifty  thousand 
francs  each." 

"  You  shall  have  my  cheque  to-mor 
row  morning,"  promptly  answered 
Marsac,  who  had  not  a  sou  to  his  credit 
or  in  hand. 

Old    Duval  then  began  to  examine 

the    room.      The    supper-table  seemed 

to  strike  him   favourably,  but  the  room 

did  not.     "  It  seems  to  me,"  he  said, 

94 


Romance  of  Marsac 

"  that  —  ahem  —  your  friend  might 
have  better  quarters.  This  is  pretty 
high  up." 

"  Yes,"  answered  Marsac,  "  but  we 
remain  here  on  account  of  the  widow, 
the  Comtesse  de  Fleury  ;  and  our  sur 
roundings  are  more  valuable  than  you 
think,  perhaps.  We  have  been  col 
lectors  in  our  time,  I  assure  you.  Do 
you  see  that  sofa  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Monsieur  Duval,  punch 
ing  the  poor  old  sofa  ;  "  but  it 's  moth- 
eaten.  It  ought  to  be  mended  here." 

O 

"  It  would  be  sacrilege  to  touch  that 
sofa.  It  belonged  to  Peter  the  Great. 
He  made  that  hole  in  it.  I  forget  ex 
actly  what  we  paid  for  it,  but  it  is 
insured  for  forty  thousand  francs." 

Monsieur  Duval's  mouth  came  wide 
open  with  surprise. 

"  And  this  mirror,"  kept  on  Marsac, 
pursuing  his  advantage.  "  It  is  cracked 
—  but  by  whom  ?  By  Madame  Pom 
padour.  One  day,  the  King  was  very 
disobliging  to  her,  and  she  flew  into  a 
95 


The  Sprightly 

passion.  She  picked  up  a  — "  Here 
Marsac  halted,  but  his  eye  travelling 
round  the  room  fell  on  their  rusty 
bellows ;  he  resumed  glibly  :  "  She 
picked  up  a  pair  of  bellows,  and  threw 
them  at  the  King.  His  Majesty 
dodged,  and  smash  went  the  bellows 
against  the  mirror,  —  and  here  are  the 
veritable  bellows.  The  mirror  and 
bellows  are  worth,  together,  about 
twenty-five  thousand  francs." 

Old  Duval  examined  them  with  the 
highest  respect.  "  I  see,"  said  he, 
u  they  are  immensely  valuable." 

"  And  do  you  see  this  violin?  "  Mar- 
sac  handed  the  old  brewer  the  violin. 

"  Ah  !  "  cried  Monsieur  Duval,  de 
lighted  to  show  he  knew  something 
about  violins,  "  a  Stradivarius,  per 
haps  ?  " 

"  My  dear  sir,"  said  Marsac,  in  a 
tone  of  pity,  "  that  violin  was  old  when 
Stradivarius  was  young.  It  is  the  iden 
tical  instrument  that  Nero  fiddled  on 
when  Rome  was  burning  !  " 


Romance  of  Marsac 


This  reduced  Monsieur  Duval  to  an 
amazed    silence,     during     which    they 
heard    laughter   and   voices  on 
the  stairs,  and  the  door  opened, 
admitting     Fontaine    and    two 
remarkably  pretty  girls. 

"  Dear  papa  !  "  cried  one  of 
them,  "  just  as  we  got  to  the 
door  the  wheel  came  off  the 
carriage,  and  the  coachman  had 
to  go  to  a  stable  after  another 
carriage  —  and  Monsieur  Fon 
taine  brought  us  up  here." 

"  Quite  right,"  replied  Monsieur 
Duval,  looking  fondly  at  his  daughter. 
u  You  know  Monsieur  Marsac  ;  but  I 
must  present  him  to  you,  Delphine. 
Oh,  you  two  should  get  on  famously, 
—  you  are  both  such  haters  of  mar- 
riage !  " 

The  instant  Marsac's  eyes  lighted 
on  Delphine,  he  felt  a  singular  sensa 
tion.  She  was  slight  and  tall,  with  a 
patrician  beauty  of  face  and  figure, 
and  an  air  of  self-possession  second  only 
7  97 


The  Sprightly 

to  Madame  Fleury's.  Delphine,  too, 
felt  an  instant  attraction  toward  Mar- 
sac,  with  his  bright  eyes,  his  alert  look 
of  intelligence,  and  his  gentlemanly 
figure.  This  perception  of  Marsac's 
charm  caused  her  to  say  lightly,  yet 
with  a  faint  blush,  — 

"  I  am  not  exactly  a  hater  of  mar 
riage.  I  only  regard  it  as  a  primitive 
and  somewhat  unintelligent  arrange 
ment." 

The  effect  of  these  few  words  from 
the  lips  of  a  woman  he  had  seen  but 
sixty  seconds,  produced  a  strange  effect 
on  Marsac.  He  felt  a  slight  chill  of 
disappointment ;  but  he  answered  in 
his  old  strain,  "  Just  what  I  have  often 
longed  to  say,  Mademoiselle,  but  never 
had  the  courage." 

u  But  I  have,"  remarked  Delphine, 
showing  her  beautiful  teeth  in  a  smile. 
"  Women,  you  know,  have  much 
more  real  courage  than  men.  Espe 
cially  is  this  true  in  times  of  great 
calamity." 


Romance  of  Marsac 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  said  Marsac,  with 
energy.  u  I  have  often  noticed,  at  the 
wedding  ceremony,  the  bride  is  always 
much  more  composed  than  the  groom." 

Being  launched  into  the  discussion, 
Delphine's  next  blow  at  the  masculine 
sex  was  this  :  u  One  phase  of  the 
question  has  frequently  occurred  to 
me.  Does  the  higher  education  unfit 
men  for  marriage  ?  " 

Marsac  shook  his  head,  unable  to 
find  an  answer  to  this  proposition, 
which  he  frankly  acknowledged  had 
never  before  presented  itself  to  him. 

Fontaine  and  Claire  had  listened  to 
this  in  silence,  but  the  furtive  looks 
exchanged  between  them  showed  a 
silent  protest  against  it,  and  also  a 
very  deep  interest  in  each  other.  Old 
Duval  laughed  at  the  discussion  be 
tween  Marsac  and  Delphine,  and  then 
they  gathered  round  the  table  to  have 
a  glass  of  champagne  while  waiting  for 
the  carriage.  Both  the  young  men 
urged  Monsieur  Duval  and  the  young 
99 


The  Sprightly 

ladies  to  partake  of  what  Marsac 
called  their  frugal  supper,  and  Mon 
sieur  Duval  chuckled  at  the  idea  of 
such  frugality,  while  declining  it. 


The  young  people  talked  gaily  to 
gether  while  sipping  champagne,  and 
blessed  the  coachman  for  taking  so 
long  to  bring  another  carriage.  Mar- 
sac  and  Delphine  seemed  to  find  it 
impossible  to  get  away  from  the  ques 
tion  of  marriage,  albeit  they  tried  to 


TOO 


Romance  of  Marsac 

outdo  each  other  in  railing  at  it.  Del- 
phine  declared  that  a  woman  should 
keep  her  eyes  open  at  the  moment  of 
marrying  even  the  best  of  men,  and 
Marsac  recommended  that  she  should 
keep  her  eyes  half  shut  ever  afterward. 
Claire  charmed  Fontaine  by  saying 
sweetly,  after  this,  — 

"  I  should  scorn  to  watch  the  man 
I  married.  I  should  want  to  have 
every  confidence  in  him." 

"  Then,  Mademoiselle,  you  would 
need  to  kill  him  immediately  after  the 
ceremony,"  counselled  Marsac. 

Then  the  conversation  turned  on 
Uncle  Maurice.  Marsac  and  Fontaine 
had  a  number  of  ready-made  anecdotes 
respecting  the  old  man  and  his  honour 
able  career  in  New  York,  which  they 
told  with  gravity  and  effect.  Marsac 
declared  that  he  felt  like  going  in 
mourning  himself,  so  grateful  was  he 
for  what  Uncle  Maurice  had  done  for 
Fontaine ;  while  Fontaine,  with  perfect 
truth,  said  that  he  thought  more  of  his 
101 


The  Sprightly 

Uncle  Maurice  than  of  any  relative  he 
had  in  the  world.  Every  moment 
passed  in  one  another's  society  drew 
these  four  young  hearts  closer  together, 
-Fontaine  and  Claire  willingly,  and 
Marsac  and  Delphine  loudly  protest 
ing  and  abusing  the  emotions  which, 
just  born  in  their  hearts,  yet  grew  like 
Jonah's  gourd. 

At  last,  however,  this  accidental 
half-hour  —  which  brought  so  much 
happiness  to  Fontaine  and  Claire,  and 
turned  the  world  topsy-turvy  for  Mar- 
sac  and  Delphine — came  to  an  end. 
The  carriage  was  reported,  the  Duval 
party  rose  to  go,  after  the  two  young 
men  had  reiterated  their  promise  to 
dine  on  the  Saturday  at  Passy,  old 
Duval  saying,  — 

u  Of  course,  it  is  most  kind  of  you 
to  come  to  us,  with  all  your  engage 
ments  with  marshals  and  dukes  and 
princes  ;  but,"  with  a  significant  look 
at  Marsac,  "  some  of  those  titled  people 
you  want  to  keep  at  long  range." 

102 


Romance  of  Marsac 

"  Especially  the  Prince  de  Landais 
and  the  Baroness  Schmid,"  boldly  re 
sponded  Marsac. 

The  door  was  open,  and  the  Duvals 
were  going  out  after  saying  good-bye  for 
the  tenth  time,  when  the  two  young 
men  saw  coming  up  the  stairs  the  com 
pact  figure  and  shrewd  face  of  Maure- 
pas,  their  editor-in-chief.  He  met  old 
Duval  face  to  face  on  the  landing. 

"  Delighted  to  see  you,  Monsieur 
Duval,"  cried  Maurepas.  u  I  was 
going  to  see  you  to-morrow  ;  but  if  you 
will  pardon  a  busy  man  for  introducing 
business,  just  let  me  ask  you  to  give 
me  the  refusal  of  that  villa  you  have  at 
Melun  until  I  can  get  to  see  you." 

u  Sorry  to  disappoint  you,  but  it  is 
the  day  after  the  ball.  I  have  just  in 
effect  sold  it  to  Monsieur  Fontaine," 
replied  Monsieur  Duval,  going  on 
downstairs. 

Maurepas  entered  the  room  with  the 
air  of  a  chagrined    man,  and   throwing 
down  his  hat,  said  crossly,  — 
103 


The  Sprightly 

"  So,  Fontaine,  that  newspaper  story 
is  true,  and  you  have  come  into  a  great 
fortune  ?  " 

"  Not  so  very  great,"  answered  Fon 
taine,  modestly,  —  "  only  a  couple  of 
million  francs." 

"  Oh,  Lord  !  "  sniffed  Maurepas, 
"  how  our  ideas  have  expanded  !  Well, 
I  am  glad  your  old  uncle  cut  up  so 
handsomely." 

"  Monsieur  Maurepas,"  said  Marsac, 
severely,  u  I  beg  you  will  at  least  re 
spect  Fontaine's  mourning  attire.  It 
is  exceedingly  painful  to  us  to  have 
Monsieur  Maurice  Fontaine's  death 
alluded  to  in  that  flippant  and  heartless 
manner." 

Monsieur  Maurepas  sniffed  louder 
than  ever,  but  did  not  pursue  the  objec 
tionable  subject.  "  Well,"  he  said,  "  I 
suppose  Fontaine  will  give  up  journalism 
now  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  responded  Fon 
taine,  dubiously  ;  "  I  always  liked  my 
profession." 

104 


Romance  of  Marsac 

"  In  that  case,"  replied  Maurepas, 
"  I  will  make  you  an  offer.  I  know 
what  you  can  do." 

Fontaine  could  not  forbear  remark 
ing,  "  You  used  to  say  I  could  n't 
do  anything  !  " 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  answered  Maure 
pas,  coolly,  "  that  was  before  you  were 
talked  about.  Now,  as  the  most 
talked-about  young  man  in  Paris,  your 
name  is  worth  something  to  a  news 
paper,  even  if  your  ideas  are  not.  I 
will  make  you  this  proposition.  If  you 
will  give  c  La  Lune '  three  signed  arti 
cles  a  week,  of  a  thousand  words  each, 
I  will  give  you  five  hundred  francs  a 
week.  I  make  but  one  stipulation,  — 
your  name  must  be  signed  to  them,  but 
Marsac  must  write  them." 

Fontaine  hesitated  for  a  moment,  but 
Marsac  answered  for  him  :  "  Done  !  " 

"  And  another  thing.      There   is   to 

be  a  great  journalists'   dinner  given  on 

the  iyth,  and  I  want  you,  when  called 

upon,  to    make  a  speech   in   the   name 

T°5 


The  Sprightly 

of  the  younger  members  of  the  staff  of 
'La  Lune.'" 

"  I  could  n't !  I  would  n't !  I  never 
made  a  speech  in  my  life." 

"  But  you  could.  What  's  the  mat 
ter  with  Marsac  composing  the  speech, 
and  your  delivering  it  ?  " 

"  None  in  the  world,"  answered 
Marsac,  laughing.  "  So  you  can  put 
him  down  for  the  lyth." 

"  And  now  about  the  Melun  villa," 
continued  Maurepas,  after  making  a 
memorandum  in  his  note-book.  u  I 
dare  not  go  home  to  my  wife  without 
the  promise  of  that  place.  I  told  her 
I  would  see  Monsieur  Duval  to-day, 
but  I  forgot  it.  I  don't  know  what 
you  paid  for  it,  but  I  will  give  you  a 
hundred  thousand  francs  for  it." 

The  prospect  of  making  a  clear  ten 
thousand  francs  delighted  Fontaine  so 
that  he  could  not  speak  for  a  moment, 
—  when,  catching  Marsac's  eye  fixed 
upon  him,  he  understood  the  signal, 
and  gave  an  evasive  answer,  which 
106 


Romance  of  Marsac 

Maurepas  pooh-poohed.  Marsac  then 
interfered. 

"  The  fact  is,"  he  said,  with  his 
most  candid  manner,  "  I  am  against 
you  there,  Monsieur  Maurepas.  I 
want  Fontaine  to  keep  the  villa.  He 
wants  to  buy  a  great  hotel  on  the 
Avenue  de  1'Alma  for  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  francs.  I  tell  him 
it  is  much  too  expensive  for  him,  and 
I  don't  think  his  Uncle  Maurice  would 
have  approved  of  it." 

Fontaine  had  never  heard  of  the 
Avenue  de  1'Alma  house,  but  he  as 
sented  promptly.  Maurepas,  however, 
being  intensely  anxious  for  the  villa, 
cut  short  the  discussion  about  the 
Avenue  de  1'Alma  house  by  offering  one 
hundred  and  ten  thousand  francs  for 
the  villa.  Fontaine,  dying  to  accept, 
glanced  at  Marsac,  who  began  to  whis 
tle  softly.  Maurepas,  growing  more 
eager,  jumped  his  bid  immediately  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
francs.  Fontaine  thought  Marsac  crazy, 
107 


The  Sprightly 


when   he  rose,  buttoned    his  coat,  and 
said,  — 

"  Pray  excuse  us,  Monsieur  Maure- 
pas.  We  have  an  engagement  at  a 
little  supper  to-night  at  the  Archbishop's, 
—  quite  an  informal  little  affair." 

"  A  hundred  and 
thirty  thousand 
francs  !  "  cried  Mau- 
repas.  "I  am  a 
great  fool ;  but  —  " 
Marsac  handed 
Fontaine's  crape- 
covered  hat  to  him. 

"  A  hundred  and 
forty  thousand  for  the  villa,  and 
may  the  devil  take  it ! "  said 
Maurepas,  in  desperation. 

"  No  !  "  joyfully  shouted   Fon 
taine,  who  saw  acquiescence  in  Marsac's 


eye. 


«  I  '11  take  it  !  " 


"  Make  one  condition,  my  dear  fel 
low,"   said   Marsac,  earnestly,  to   Fon 
taine.     "  If  you  will  be  such  a  fool  as 
to  sell  the  villa,  make  Monsieur  Maure- 
108 


Romance  of  Marsac 

pas  promise  you  not  to  mention  the 
price  to  Monsieur  Duval.  The  old 
gentleman  thought  he  was  selling  it 
to  you  for  a  mere  song,  and  he  will 
never  forgive  you  if  he  finds  out  you 
re-sold  it  immediately  at  so  small  an 
advance." 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  Fontaine ;  and 
Maurepas,  who  was  making  out  a  little 
memorandum  of  the  transaction,  added 
readily,  — 

"  Yes,  yes.      I  will  not  mention  it." 

"  Stop,"  cried  Marsac.  "  It  would 
be  as  well  to  tell  Monsieur  Duval  that 
Fontaine  got  a  large  advance  on  it. 
That  will  reconcile  old  Duval  to  his 
selling  it." 

u  I  '11  tell  the  old  fellow  anything 
you  like.  Only  sign  this  little  memo 
randum,  Fontaine,  and  you  can  pass 
the  papers  over  directly  to  me  as  soon 
as  you  get  them.  And  if  you  will  take 
a  cheque  to  bind  the  bargain  —  " 

Fontaine  could  scarcely  refrain  from 
embracing  the  editor  on  the  spot,  but 
109 


The  Sprightly 

obeying  a  telegraphic  signal  from  Mar- 
sac,  he  merely  said,  "  If  it  is  any  incon 
venience  to  you  —  " 

"  It  is  not  the  slightest  ;  and   it  will 
please  my  wife  to   know  it  is   settled," 
answered  Maurepas,  taking  out  a  cheque 
book  and  rapidly  writing  a  cheque 
for  twenty  thousand  francs. 

In    ten    minutes    the    in 
formal  but  binding  agreement 
was    made    and    signed,   and 
Maurepas    took    his    de 
parture. 

Fontaine  and  Marsac, 
left  alone,  sat  looking 
intently  at  each  other, 
simply  stunned  by  their  good 
fortune.  Marsac,  finding 
words  unable  to  express  his  rapture, 
turned  a  double  handspring  over  the 
sofa,  when  Fontaine,  rushing  up  to 
him,  hugged  and  kissed  him  violently. 
After  this,  they  stood  grasping  each 
other  for  five  minutes  in  silent  rapture, 
when  Marsac's  countenance,  losing 
no 


Romance  of  Marsac 

its  blissful  expression,  became  suddenly 
grave. 

u  Fontaine,  this  is  glorious  ;  but  tell 
me  one  thing.  What  is  that  singular 
sensation  which  I  felt  the  instant  my 
eyes  rested  on  Delphine  ?  I  feel  it 
now.  It  is  most  peculiar  and  pene 
trating,  and,  although  agitating,  not 
unpleasant." 

"  Love,  you  idiot  !  " 

"  You  alarm  me,"  said  Marsac,  anx 
iously.  "  Tell  me  it  is  something 
less  dangerous,  —  locomotor  ataxia  or 
paresis  :  I  have  been  told  the  symptoms 
are  somewhat  alike." 

u  I  tell  you  that  you  are  in  love  with 
Delphine,  just  as  I  am  in  love  with 
my  sweet  Claire  ;  and  you  need  not 
fight  and  struggle  against  it.  Love  is 
lord  of  all.  No  man  has  lived  until 
he  has  loved." 

"  But  is  there  no  way  out  of 
love  ?  A  course  of  Plato  and  a  low 
diet—" 

"  Not  a  particle  of  good  !  " 
in 


The  Sprightly 

Marsac  relapsed  into  gloom,  until 
Fontaine,  whacking  him  on  the  back, 
cried  exultingly,  — 

u  Think,  Marsac,  twenty  thousand 
francs  in  hand  ;  thirty  thousand  more 
coming ;  forty  thousand  francs  profit 
each  from  the  brewery  shares  we  can 
now  buy  ;  a  thousand  francs  for  a  pic 
ture  ;  a  play  placed ;  clothes  enough 
for  two  years,  —  hurrah  for  Uncle 
Maurice  !  " 

"  Hurrah  !  hurrah  !  hurrah  !  for 
Uncle  Maurice  !  "  shouted  Marsac, 
capering  wildly  about. 

Fontaine  ran  and  opened  the  closet 
door  to  let  out  the  two  ballet-girls,  who 
had  gone  to  sleep.  He  pulled  them 
out,  and  began  dancing  gaily  with 
them  ;  while  Marsac,  finding  Madame 
Schmid  at  the  keyhole  listening,  dragged 
her  in  out  of  the  corridor,  and  seizing 
her  round  the  waist,  began  to  waltz 
furiously,  both  of  them  hurrahing  for 
Uncle  Maurice  at  the  top  of  their 
lungs,  and  singing  doggerel  verses  made 

112 


Romance  of  Marsac 

up  as  they  danced,  and  all   ending  with 
a  joyous  refrain  of,  — 

"  Houp-la  !  for  Uncle  Maurice  !  " 


TI3 


The  Sprightly 


Chapter  III 

'""THE  dinner  at  Passy  resulted  in 
several  things.  Fontaine  and 
Claire  could  no  longer  conceal  their 
infatuation  with  each  other,  and  a  tacit 
engagement  ensued,  to  be  announced 
as  soon  as  Fontaine  could  free  himself 
wholly  from  Madame  Fleury,  —  which 
meant,  as  soon  as  she  gave  up  the  pur 
suit  of  him. 

The  two  friends  had  escaped  from 
under  the  roof  of  17  Rue  Montignal 
by  the  exercise  of  an  ingenuity  akin  to 
that  which  enables  men  to  dig  under 
castle  walls,  to  steal  past  sentries,  and 
to  find  their  way  over  prison  gates. 
They  secretly  hired  another  lodging, 
and,  to  avoid  suspicion,  made  no  move 
toward  paying  their  rent  to  Madame 
Fleury,  in  spite  of  their  coming  into 
114 


Romance  of  Marsac 


ready  money.  This  apparent  absence 
of  cash  led  her  to  believe,  more  than 
ever,  that  the  story  of  the  rich  uncle 
was  an  invention  of  Marsac's.  They 
had  little  to  move,  except  their  new 
clothes  and  Uncle 
Maurice's  portrait.  For 
a  week  before  their 
flight,  every  day  they 
came  downstairs  whis 
tling,  and  wearing  two 
and  sometimes  three 
suits  of  clothes,  which 
they  shed,  as  a  snake 
sheds  his  skin,  at  their 
new  lodgings.  At  last, 
in  the  dead  of  night, 
they  crept  softly  out  of 
their  apartment,  leaving 
on  the  table  a  note  addressed  to  Ma 
dame  Fleury,  enclosing  the  full  amount 
of  their  indebtedness;  and  stealing 
downstairs,  —  Marsac  with  his  violin 
case,  and  P'ontaine  with  Uncle  Mau 
rice's  portrait,  —  they  gained  the  street, 


The  Sprightly 

where  they  ran  as  if  Satan  were  after 
them. 

Madame  Fleury's  chagrin  next  morn 
ing  was  excessive,  particularly  when 
she  read  the  note,  in  which  Marsac 
thanked  her  ironically  for  her  hospital 
ity  to  thenio  She  had  not  the  smallest 
clew  to  their  whereabouts,  but  she 
went  to  work  quietly  to  find  them 
out.  Meanwhile,  Marsac  and  Fon 
taine,  having  her  out  of  sight,  were 
not  disposed  to  trouble  themselves  fur 
ther  about  her  ;  but  old  Duval  natur 
ally  wished  his  daughter  to  avoid  any 
scandal  which  might  arise  over  the 
affair,  and  was  very  solicitous  that 
Madame  Fleury  be  settled  with. 
"  Let  sleeping  dogs  lie,"  was  Mar- 
sac's  motto  °,  and  he  was  not  inclined 
to  hunt  up  Madame  Fleury  in  order 
to  get  a  formal  release  from  her. 

Meanwhile,  the  catastrophe  indicate,! 
at  the  very  first  meeting  between  Mar- 
sac  and  Delphine  had  fallen  out  in 
the  most  violent  manner.  They  fell 
mutually  in  love,  with  a  precipitance 
116 


Romance  of  Marsac 

to  which  even  Claire  and  Fontaine's 
ardour  was  not  a  patch.  But  although 
there  was  disaffection  in  the  citadel 
of  both  their  hearts,  pride  and  policy 
made  a  brave  show  of  defence  when 
really  each  only  waited  the  demand 
from  the  other  to  surrender.  Marsac 
dared  not  propose  to  Delphine  that  to 
secure  himself  the  charm  of  her  society 
he  enslave  her  in  marriage.  To  ward 
off  the  suspicions  which  might  arise  in 
her  mind  from  the  sly  jokes  and  hints 
of  the  two  confessed  lovers,  he  gibed 
at  marriage  more  keenly  than  ever. 
Delphine,  who  was  not  a  whit  behind 
Marsac  in  falling  in  love,  scorned  to 
be  outdone,  and  railed  at  love  and 
marriage,  quoted  Plato  and  Nordau, 
and  made  herself  miserable  in  a  man 
ner  truly  feminine, 

Old  Duval  was  bent  on  the  match 
between  his  daughter  and  Fontaine, — 
the  more  so,  as  Marsac  informed  him 
confidentially  that  Fontaine  had  two 
more  uncles  in  America,  and  an  aged 
and  infirm  aunt,  all  of  whom  intended 
117 


The  Sprightly 

to  make  him    their   heir,  and  each  of 
whom  was  over  eighty  years  of  age. 

The  two  young  men  were  much  at 
Passy,  and  the  invitations  elsewhere 
which  they  had  once  been  forced  to 
invent  now  really  existed.  The  whole 
face  of  existence,  indeed,  was  changed 
for  them,  —  for  Marsac  as  for  Fon 
taine.  Fontaine  had  always  thought 
Marsac  the  cleverest  fellow  in  the 
world,  and  he  now  ranked  him  with 
Napoleon  and  Alexander  the  Great. 
The  play  had  been  produced,  and  was 
immensely  successful ;  the  picture  had 
been  exhibited,  and  highly  praised ; 
while  at  the  journalists'  dinner,  Mar- 
sac's  speech  delivered  by  Fontaine  had 
marked  Fontaine  forever  as  a  born 
after-dinner  speaker  and  a  man  of  esprit. 
This  last  reputation  was  amply  con 
firmed  by  the  brilliant  articles,  signed  by 
Fontaine  and  written  by  Marsac,  which 
sparkled  three  times  a  week  upon  the 
pages  of  4t  La  Lune."  In  short,  it 
appeared  as  if  the  mere  report  of  a 
118 


Romance  of  Marsac 

fortune  of  two  million  francs  was 
enough  to  produce  two  million  francs. 
But  the  real  fact  was  that  Marsac, 
hitherto  an  unappreciated  genius,  had 
risen  to  the  great  occasion  offered  him, 
and  his  success  was  not  that  of  a  char 
latan.  It  was  that  of  a  man  of  parts, 
accomplishments,  and  that  large  gen 
erosity  which  does  a  good  thing  and 
troubles  not  that  the  world  gives  the 
credit  to  some  one  else.  And  as 
everybody  believed  in  the  defunct 
Uncle  Maurice,  Fontaine  and  Mar- 
sac  actually  seemed  to  be  deceived 
by  their  own  illusion,  and  would  talk 
quite  gravely  between  themselves  of 
Uncle  Maurice,  —  his  tastes,  his  habits, 
and  his  appearance.  As  for  the  real 
Uncle  Maurice,  nothing  more  had  been 
heard  of  him,  and  the  two  young  men 
easily  persuaded  themselves  that  nothing 
would.  In  any  event,  they  did  not 
intend  to  cross  the  bridge  until  they 
came  to  it;  and  some  of  the  advanta 
ges  gained  by  the  fictitious  uncle  were 
119 


The  Sprightly 

of  so  solid  a  nature  that  even  if  Uncle 
Maurice  turned  up,  he  could  not 
rob  them  of  the  entire  fruits  of  their 
scheme. 

One  bright  evening  early  in  May, 
they  had  dined  at  Passy,  and  after 
dinner  sat,  with  the  two  girls  and  old 
Duval,  on  the  terrace.  The  evening 
was  warm  for  the  season,  and  coffee 
was  served  out  of  doors.  After  a  while 
Delphine,  who  carried  a  volume  of 
Plato  about  with  her  as  her  oriflamme 
of  battle,  asked  Marsac  to  read  some 
thing  to  them  from  the  great  philoso 
pher.  This  Marsac  promptly  agreed 
to,  if  Delphine  would  hold  a  candle,  — 
which  would  be  necessary  in  the  fading 
light.  As  it  brought  Delphine's 
golden  head  quite  close  to  Marsac's 
closely  cropped  brown  one,  she  con 
sented  willingly.  Old  Duval,  who  had 
but  a  poor  opinion  of  Plato,  sauntered 
off  to  the  other  end  of  the  terrace, 
close  by  the  hedge  which  overlooked 
the  high-road.  A  table  with  coffee, 
120 


Romance  of  Marsac 

iced  champagne,  and  cigars  mitigated 
his  solitude.  Afar  off  in  the  dark  illu 
mined  by  the  wax  candle  which  looked 
like  a  firefly,  Marsac  read  Plato  aloud, 


with  assent  on  his  lips  and  contradic 
tion  in  his  heart.  Fontaine  and  Claire, 
exchanging  laughing  glances,  varied  by 
an  occasional  tender  pressure  of  the 
hands,  half  listened  ;  while  Delphine, 
happy  to  be  near  Marsac,  and  smiling 


121 


The  Sprightly 

at  him,  yet  cherished  bitterness  against 
him  in  her  heart  for  his  professed  dis 
dain  of  love. 

Presently  Monsieur  Duval  was  heard 
calling,  "  Monsieur  Marsac  !  "  Mar- 
sac,  to  whom  Plato  had  become  well- 
nigh  intolerable,  laid  the  book  down 
with  a  vicious  slam,  and  walked  to  the 
other  end  of  the  terrace,  where  they 
were  almost  out  of  sight  and  hearing. 

"  Come,*'  said  the  old  man,  good- 
humouredly,  "  have  n't  you  had 
enough  of  that  old  fool  Plato  ?  " 

"My  dear  Monsieur  Duval,  you 
horrify  me,  you  pain  me  !  "  responded 
Marsac,  in  a  shocked  voice.  "  Plato 
—  the  divine  Plato — may  go  to  the 
devil,"  was  his  inward  conclusion. 

"  Well,  well,"  continued  Monsieur 
Duval,  "we  won't  say  anything  more 
on  the  subject,  since  you  and  Delphine 
are  so  touchy  about  it.  Take  a  glass 
of  champagne,  —  you  like  it?  " 

"  I  am  not  afraid  of  it/'  said  Mar- 
sac,  pouring  out  a  glass. 

122 


Romance  of  Marsac 

Monsieur  Duval  sighed,  fidgeted, 
and  then  burst  out  with,  u  Do  you 
know,  I  am  afraid  —  I  am  afraid  I 
have  been  to  blame  in  letting  my 
daughter  and  Monsieur  Fontaine  see 
so  much  of  each  other,  while  matters 
are  still  so  uncertain  about  the  Com- 
tesse  de  Fleury  ;  for  I  see  the  two 
young  people  are  deeply  in  love  with 
each  other.  Now,"  he  continued, 
with  a  smile,  "  there  is  no  such  dan 
ger  for  you  and  Delphine,  for  I  believe 
you  talk  about  nothing  except  the 
folly  of  loving  and  being  loved." 

"  True,"  responded  Marsac,  gloom 
ily,  and  trying  to  drown  in  champagne 
the  resentment  he  felt  at  the  scurvy 
trick  which  fate  had  played  him. 

"  Monsieur  Fontaine  is  a  very  gifted 
young  fellow,"  said  Monsieur  Duval. 

u  He  is,"  replied  Marsac,  with  enthu 
siasm. 

"  That  picture  he  painted  —  " 

"  Admirable  !  " 

"  I  have   no    objections  to  a  man's 
123 


The  Sprightly 

knowing  something  about  art,  if  he 
can  sell  his  pictures,"  said  Monsieur 
Duval,  with  cautious  praise.  "  There 
was  —  ahem — Michael  Angelo,  for 
example  —  " 

"  Michael  Angelo  was  a  devil  of  a 
fellow  with  a  brush  and  a  paint-pot  ; 
but  the  man  who  painted  Fontaine's 
picture  was  n't  far  behind  him." 

"  And  that  play?" 

"  Literally,  a  screaming  success. 
The  women  are  carried  out  in  hysterics 
at  every  performance.  One  of  them, 
we  hoped,  would  die  from  excitement. 
It  would  have  been  worth  five  thou 
sand  francs'  advertising.  But,  unfor 
tunately,  she  recovered  just  when  our 
prospects  seemed  brightest." 

"  And  the  speech  at  the  journalists* 
dinner  —  " 

u  The  greatest  effort  of  my  —  I 
mean,  of  Fontaine's  life." 

"  Those  signed  articles  are  making 
a  sensation." 

"  Ah,  yes  ;  many  a  night  have  I  sat 
124 


Romance  of  Marsac 

up  writing  — that  is,  reading  those 
articles.  Depend  upon  it,  the  things 
that  go  under  Fontaine's  name  are 
very  remarkable." 

At  that  moment  a  footman  ap 
proached,  and  handed  Marsac  a  card, 
saying,  "  The  lady  asked  for  Monsieur 
Fontaine." 

Marsac  was  about  to  hand  the  card 
back,  when  he  happened  to  see  on  it 
"  Madame  Fleury." 

"Stop!"  he  cried  instantly;  "give 
me  a  moment  to  think.  Monsieur 
Duval,  here  is  the  Comtesse  de  Fleury 
come  after  Fontaine  !  She  must  not 
see  him  !  " 

Monsieur  Duval  jumped  up,  flur 
ried,  and  anxious  to  be  out  of  the  way 
at  the  coming  scene.  "Good  heavens  ! 
Let  me  get  away.  I  must  keep  my 
poor  child  out  of  sight.  And  Fon 
taine — "  Monsieur  Duval  waddled 
off,  making  remarkably  good  time  for 
a  gentleman  of  his  years,  but  returned 
to  say  impressively,  "  Take  care  she 


The  Sprightly 

doesn't  bamboozle  you.  You  need  two 
pairs  of  eyes  to  watch,  and  four  legs 
to  run  away,  where  a  widow  is  con 
cerned  ;  "  and  then  he  disappeared. 

u  Show  the  lady  here,"  said  Marsac, 
with  assumed  calmness,  and  at  the 
same  time  taking  another  glass  of 
champagne  to  steady  his  nerves. 

In  a  minute  or  two  he  saw  Madame 
Fleury's  imposing  figure  advancing 
along  the  gravelled  walk,  and  then  she 
had  mounted  the  terrace  steps  and  was 
gliding  over  the  velvet  turf  toward 
him.  As  usual,  she  was  perfectly  well 
dressed.  Her  bonnet  was  set  on  her 
head  with  the  grace  of  a  coronet.  In 
one  hand  she  carried  a  parasol,  and  in 
the  other  a  silver  card-case.  Marsac 
advanced  politely  to  meet  her,  and  the 
two  exchanged  bows,  as  pugilists 
shake  hands  on  entering  the  ring. 

Madame  Fleury  lost  no  time  in  pro 
ceeding  to  business.  "  Monsieur  Mar- 
sac,  I  have  been  at  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  to  find  you  ;  but,  as  you  see, 
126 


Romance  of  Marsac 

I  have  succeeded.  I  wish  to  see 
Monsieur  Fontaine  in  regard  to  the 
engagement  between  us." 

"  Is  there  an  engagement  between 
you  ?  "  asked  Marsac,  innocently. 
"  Of  what  nature,  may  I  ask  ?  " 

Madame  Fleury  smiled  scornfully 
at  Marsac's  pretended  ignorance.  "  If 
it  be  true  that  he  has  come  into  a  for 
tune,  then  I  am  the  more  determined 
that  our  contract  shall  be  fulfilled  on  the 
I5th  of  this  month.  I  acknowledge, 
though,  that  I  have  not  yet  been  able 
to  persuade  myself  fully  of  this  old 
uncle's  death,  or  even  of  his  previous 
existence,  because  you  have  had  too 
much  to  do  with  the  affair." 

"  This,  indeed,  is  humiliating,"  said 
Marsac,  with  an  offended  air.  "  But, 
Madame,  uncle  or  no  uncle,  let  me 
beg  of  you  to  give  up  this  pursuit  of 
Fontaine.  He  loves  another  woman, 
—  perhaps  not  so  beautiful  or  attrac 
tive  as  you,  but  still  he  loves  her.  I 
can  invent  some  plausible  story  to 
127 


The  Sprightly 

account  for  your  coming  here.  I  will 
introduce  Monsieur  Duval  to  you  ;  he 
will,  I  guarantee,  offer  to  send  you 
back  to  Paris  in  a  superb  victoria." 

"  No,  I  thank  you." 

"  In  a  brougham,  then.  The 
brougham  is  very  handsome.  I  will 
also  introduce  you  as  the  Comtesse  de 
Fleury  —  think  of  that  !  —  coming  from 
Paris  as  Madame  Fleury  in  a  cab, 
returning  as  the  Comtesse  de  Fleury  in 
a  splendid  private  carriage  !  " 

Madams  Fleury  only  laughed  a  little 
at  this.  u  I  know  what  your  offers  to 
serve  me  mean,  and  also  how  much 
good-will  you  owe  me." 

"  Do  you  doubt,  Madame,  that  I 
have  the  very  highest  regard  for  you  ? 
Try  me.  There  is,  just  behind  the 
house,  a  well  sixty  feet  deep,  and  the 
water  of  an  icy  coldness.  Just  you 
jump  in,  and  see  how  quickly  I  will 
jump  in  after  you  to  save  you." 

Madame  Fleury  laughed  more  than 
ever  as  she  declined  this,  and  said  ban- 
128 


Romance  of  Marsac 


teringly,  "  How  could  I  believe  you, 
considering  that  when  I  made  you  an 
offer  you  refused  me  ?  " 

"  Oh,  Madame  Fleury  !  "  cried 
Marsac,  actually  hanging  his  head, 
"  surely  I  said  my  affections  were  en 
gaged —  or  —  or  I  asked  time 
for  consideration  —  or  I  was 
too  young  to  marry  —  or  some 
thing  of  the  sort.  I  did  not 
put  it  in  that  brutally  frank 
fashion  in  which  you  rep 
resent  me." 

"Yes,    you    did,"    re 
plied      Madame     Fleury. 
u  But    I    like  your  proposi 
tion  that  I  shall  meet   Mon 
sieur    Duval.       I    know    a    good    deal 
about   him  and   his  family,  but   I  have 
never   seen    him,   and    this    is    an    ad 
mirable  opportunity." 

The  world   called   Marsac   a   clever 
but  at  that  moment  he  felt   him- 


man. 


self  to  be  the  greatest  lunkhead  in  ex 
istence.      What  had  he  mentioned   old 
9  129 


The  Sprightly 

DuvaPs  name  for  ?  And  at  that  very 
moment  the  old  brewer's  curiosity  hav 
ing  got  the  better  of  his  cowardice,  he 
was  seen  advancing  across  the  terrace. 
There  was  no  help  for  it  ;  and  Marsac, 
with  a  very  bad  grace,  had  to  present 
him  to  the  widow. 

Madame  Fleury  was  a  perfect  mis 
tress  of  the  art  of  coquetry  as  applied 
to  elderly  gentlemen.  She  turned  her 
eyes  upon  Monsieur  Duval  with  a 
melting  glance  that  would  have  put 
a  younger  man  on  his  guard.  Not  so 
Monsieur  Duval.  It  had  been  a  long 
time  since  a  woman  so  young  and  hand 
some  had  made  eyes  at  him,  and  he 
relished  it  exceedingly.  All  his  precau 
tions  against  widows  were  thrown  to  the 
four  winds  of  heaven.  Marsac  almost 
groaned  aloud  as  he  saw,  in  five  min 
utes'  talk,  the  widow  sailing  into  the 
old  fellow's  good  graces.  Monsieur 
Duval  offered  Madame  Fleury  a  glass 
of  champagne;  and  when  the  two  sat 
down  together  on  a  rustic  bench,  Mar- 
130 


Romance  of  Marsac 

sac  was  so  overcome  with  chagrin  at 
the  chance  he  had  given  his  enemy 
that  he  turned  his  back  and  walked 
toward  the  edge  of  the  terrace. 

Madame  Fieurv  improved  her  op 
portunity.  She  drew  closer  to  Mon 
sieur  Duval,  and  from  tapping  his  hand 
gently  with  her  card-case  soon  grew  to 
letting  her  hand  rest  on  his,  while  she 
poured  into  his  ears  the  story  of  her 
alleged  engagement  to  Fontaine.  Ac 
cording  to  her  account,  Fontaine  had 
pursued  her,  and  by  his  importunity 
had  made  her  consent  to  an  engage 
ment,  which  he  now  refused  to  fulfil. 
Her  desire  for  a  settlement  of  the  ques 
tion  was  simply  to  avoid  scandal;  and 
she  dwelt  so  upon  the  impossibility  of 
her  feeling  any  affection  for  so  young 
a  man  as  Fontaine,  and  the  chance  she 
sacrificed  of  meeting  a  man  old  enough 
to  please  her,  that  old  Duval  began 
seriously  to  fear  that  his  own  age  — 
sixty-seven  —  was  callow  and  im 
mature. 


The  Sprightly 

After  fifteen  minutes  of  this  had 
gone  on,  Marsac  turned  round  and 

O  * 

glanced  at  the  pair.     It  was  still  light 
enough  to  see.     Madame  Fleury  had 
reached  the  weeping  stage.      Her  left 
hand  pressed  a  hand 
kerchief  to  her  eyes, 
while  Monsieur   Du- 
val  patting  her  right  was 
saying  tenderly,  — 

"  There,  there,  don't 
cry." 

"  Ah,   if  one    has 
i     heart,    one     must 
suffer,"  murmured 
Madame  Fleury,  with  a  beau 
tiful    little     sob,    and     pressing 
a    lace-trimmed     handkerchief    to    her 
eyes.      "  And   I   have   a  heart   too  im 
pulsive,  a  nature  too  unsophisticated." 

u  I  see  it,  I  know  it,"  was  old  Du- 
val's  fervent  answer.  "It  is  that 
charming  simplicity,  that  inability  to 
take  care  of  your  dear  little  self,  that 
wins  upon  me." 

132 


Romance  of  Marsac 

u  I  am  so  weak,"  whispered  Madame 
Fleury,  squeezing  hts  hand.  "  Pray, 
forgive  me.  You  are  so  good  —  I 
know  you  are  so  good." 

u  Yes,  yes,  I  '11  forgive  you,"  Mar- 
sac  heard  old  Duval  answer,  although 
what  he  was  forgiving  her  he  could  not 
have  told  to  save  his  life  ;  "  and  it  is 
a  thousand  shames  that  any  man  should 
cause  that  innocent  little  heart  of  yours 
to  ache.  Now,  would  n't  it  be  better 
for  all  parties  if  you  and  Fontaine 
could  separate  amicably  ?  And  then 
you  might  find  some  other  man  that 
you  could  love."  Old  Duval,  at  this, 
stuck  his  head  sentimentally  on  one 
side. 

"  A  mature  man,  Monsieur  Duval," 
said  Madame  Fleury,  wiping  her  eyes. 
"  I  have  had  enough  of  young  men. 
It  is  impossible  for  me  to  feel  a  pas 
sionate  regard  for  any  man  under  sixty- 
five,  at  the  least." 

At  this,  old  Duval  assumed  a  se 
raphic  air,  which  fairly  made  Marsac, 
133 


The  Sprightly 

who  could  see  it  all,  perfectly  ill  with 
disgust.  Nevertheless,  knowing  that 
Madame  Fleury  and  her  victim  both 
wished  him  out  of  the  way,  he  con 
tinued  to  stana  his  ground  stoutly, 
walking  up  and  down  and  whistling 
loudly  and  contemptuously,  as  their 
voices  sank  to  the  sentimental  pitch. 
Presently  he  saw  Madame  Fleury  take 
carefully  out  of  her  card-case  a  folded 
slip  of  paper,  which  she  read  in  a  low 
voice  to  the  old  brewer.  Marsac's 
heart  jumped  into  his  mouth  at  the 
thought  that  it  was  the  marriage  con 
tract  she  was  reading. 

Monsieur  Duval  kept  looking  to 
ward  Marsac  with  the  evident  desire 
to  get  rid  of  him.  Presently  he  rose 
and  walked  over  to  where  Marsac 
stood,  and  began  to  whisper  in  an 
embarrassed  manner,  — 

"  I  say,  Monsieur  Marsac  —  pray 
pardon  me  for  asking  —  would  you  — 
er  —  ah  —  be  kind  enough  to  tell  me 
—  excuse  me  for  inquiring  —  "  Here 


Romance  of  Marsac 

the  old  fellow  burst  out  explosively : 
"  What  the  devil  are  you  sticking  here 
for  ?  " 

"  Because,"  answered  Marsac,  "  I 
thought  you  would  like  the  protection  of 
my  presence,  under  the  circumstances." 

«  Well  —  I  don't." 

u  And  then,  it  occurred  to  me  that 
you  had  once  suggested  I  should  my 
self  make  an  offer  to  Madame  Fleury. 
The  lady  is  here;  also  the  moon,  night 
ingales,  flowers,  and  other  incentives 
to  romance." 

"  I  withdraw  that  suggestion,  Mon 
sieur  Marsac." 

"  I  have  not  asked  to  have  it  with 
drawn,  Monsieur  Duval." 

"  O-o-o-h  !  "  groaned  old  Duval. 
Then,  suddenly,  the  absurdity  of  Mar- 
sac's  making  love  to  any  woman  over 
came  him,  and  he  burst  out,  laughing  : 
"  This  tickles  me  under  the  fifth  rib  ! 
Delphine  must  know  it." 

It  was  now  Marsac's  turn  to  be 
chagrined. 

135 


The  Sprightly 

u  My  dear  sir,"  he  cried,  u  I  beg  of 
you  not  to  mention  it  to  Mademoiselle 
Delphine.  It  was  a  mere  idle  remark. 
As  you  have  frequently  heard  me  say, 
my  ideal  of  a  woman  is  a  Platonist.  I 
would  not  marry  any  other,  and  no 
Platonist  would  marry  me ;  so  you 
perceive  the  utter  baselessness  of  my 
language." 

"  I  do,"  answered  old  Duval,  look 
ing  much  relieved,  "and  I  hope  you'll 
stick  to  it.  Now,  I  '11  return  to  that 
poor  woman  yonder ;  "  which  he  im 
mediately  proceeded  to  do.  Within 
two  minutes  he  said  in  a  loud  voice, 
meant  for  Marsac  to  hear,  ct  Come, 
Madame,  let  us  look  for  Fontaine  in 
the  garden." 

The  two  walked  off,  round  the 
corner  of  the  terrace,  in  a  direction 
opposite  to  the  garden. 

Marsac     knew    in    an     instant    that 

Madame   Fleury's  manoeuvre  meant  a 

chance     to     finish     up    old    Duval    in 

private,  as  a  tigress  drags  her  prey  off 

136 


Romance  of  Marsac 

to  the  jungle  to  devour.  Marsac 
then  looked  carefully  around  him,  and 
seeing  that  he  was  quite  unobserved, 
he  took  from  his  pocket  the  copy  of 
Plato  out  of  which  he  had  been  read 
ing  to  Delphine,  and  giving  the  book 
a  vicious  kick,  sent  it  spinning  to  the 
other  end  of  the  terrace.  "  Villain," 
"  scoundrel,"  "dolt,"  "rascal,"  "idiot," 
were  a  few  of  the  expletives  that  he 
hurled  after  the  greatest  of  the  Greeks. 

O 

Then  he  walked  over  to  the  corner  of 
the  terrace  where  the  table  was,  as  the 
best  point  to  command  a  view 
of  the  grounds,  and  seeing  a 
champagne  bottle  half  emp 
tied  was  about  to  drink  the 
balance  of  the  wine  in 
order  to  save  it,  when 
his  eye  suddenly  fell  upon 
a  paper  lying  face  upward 
on  the  table.  It  was  the  con 
tract  between  Fontaine  and  Madame 
Fleury.  Marsac  could  scarcely  re 
strain  a  shout  of  joy.  He  seized  it 


The  Sprightly 

and  put  it  in  his  pocket ;  but  the  next 
moment  he  saw  Madame  Fleury  cross 
ing  swiftly  toward  him,  and  alone. 

"  Pardon  me,"  she  said  in  a  voice 
that  she  tried  unavailingly  to  make 
calm.  "  I  had  a  letter  here  a  moment 
ago,  in  an  envelope.  I  put  the  en 
velope  back  in  my  card-case,  and 
thought  I  had  the  letter  in  it,  but  I 
have  not.  Did  you  see  it  on  the 
ground  anywhere  about  here  ?  " 

"  No,  Madame,"  answered  Marsac, 
looking  her  steadily  in  the  eye,  —  a 
gaze  which  she  as  steadily  returned. 

Madame  Fleury  began  eagerly  search 
ing  on  the  ground  for  the  letter,  Mar- 
sac  politely  assisting,  and  lighting 
matches  from  time  to  time  to  supply 
the  fast-vanishing  light.  Marsac  never 
had  so  hard  a  task  in  his  life  as  to 
keep  his  countenance  straight  while  he 
fondled  the  breast-pocket  in  which  lay 
the  document  that  Madame  Fleury 
searched  for  so  eagerly. 

Madame     Fleury     grew    more    and 

138 


Romance  of  Marsac 

more  anxious  as  she  failed  to  find  the 
paper.  They  were  both  tired  with 
stooping,  and  presently  sat  down  on 
the  ground,  facing  each  other,  and 
each  steadily  eying  the  other. 


"  It  is  so  vexatious  to  lose  a  letter," 
said  Madame  Fleury. 

"  Yes  ;  one  might  lose  a  love-letter," 
hazarded  Marsac. 

139 


The  Sprightly 

"  Not  you,  Monsieur  Marsac,"  re 
plied  Madame  Fleury,  sarcastically. 

"  True  ;  I  am  not  a  widow,"  was 
Marsac's  response  to  this  shot. 

Then  they  both  began  crawling 
round  agai'n,  watching  each  other,  like 
cats.  An  idea  came  into  Marsac's 
head  which  almost  made  him  laugh 
aloud.  With  a  great  show  of  secrecy, 
he  took  an  old  bill  of  Landais's  from 
his  pocket,  and  began  to  tear  it  up  into 
little  bits,  which  he  scattered  about. 
Madame  Fleury  saw  the  bits,  and  with 
as  much  secrecy  as  Marsac  she  began 
to  collect  them,  smiling  to  herself:  she 
was  convinced  that  Marsac  was  tear 
ing  up  the  contract.  Presently,  Mar- 
sac  lighting  another  match  dropped  it, 
as  if  by  accident,  upon  a  little  pile  of 
these  pieces  of  paper.  Madame  Fleury 
pretended  to  stumble  against  him, 
nearly  knocking  him  over,  and  then 
deftly  secured  the  half-burned  scraps. 
They  each  sat  on  the  ground  and  sur 
veyed  the  other  with  an  air  of  triumph. 
140 


Romance  of  Marsac 

"  Never  mind  about  the  letter,"  said 
Madame  Fleury  with  a  brilliant  smile, 
clutching  her  precious  scraps  in  her 
gloved  hand  ;  and  then  they  both 
laughed. 

Madame  Fleury  rose,  and  shaking 
her  skirts  into  place,  said,  "  I  have  not 
seen  Monsieur  Fontaine  ;  but  I  am 
not  ill-satisfied  with  my  visit." 

a  May  I  have  the  pleasure  of  escort 
ing  you  to  your  carriage  ? "  asked 
Marsac. 

"  No,  no  !  "  cried  Madame  Fleury, 
hastily  ;  "  I  have  promised  Monsieur 
Duval  that  he  shall  put  me  in  the 
carriage." 

A  grinding  of  wheels  on  the  road 
way  beneath  them  and  behind  the  tall 
hedge  was  now  heard,  and  Madame 
Fleury  flew  down  the  terrace  steps  as 
lightly  as  the  swallow  skims  the  ground  ; 
and  then  Marsac  heard  a  vehicle  rattle 
off.  He  could  hardly  wait  until  the 
carriage  was  half-way  down  the  drive 
before  shouting  in  his  delight  for  Fon- 
141 


The  Sprightly 

taine.  But  Fontaine  and  Claire  and 
Delphine  were  all  peeping  round  the 
verandah  ;  and  seeing  that  Madame 
Fleury  was  gone,  all  three  came  troop 
ing  toward  Marsac. 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  cried  Marsac,  in 
a  tone  of  suppressed  rapture,  as  he  took 
out  the  contract,  "  here  is  that  cursed 
paper.  She  has  gone  off  with  a  lot  of 
half-burned  scraps  of  an  old  bill  of 
Landais's  which  she  thinks  is  this 
contract." 

Fontaine,  without  a  word,  hugged 
Marsac  according  to  custom  ;  and  Claire 
showed  such  an  evident  inclination 
to  do  the  same  that  Marsac  gave  her 
a  truly  brotherly  embrace,  to  which 
Fontaine  made  no  objection. 

"  Here,"  Marsac  said,  tearing  the 
paper,  "  is  half  of  it  for  you,  Fontaine, 
and  dear  Claire  ;  the  other  half  is 
for  Mademoiselle  Delphine  and  me. 
And,"  he  added  timidly,  "we  will 
have  a  marriage  contract  between 
us." 

142 


Romance  of  Marsac 

"  To  be  destroyed,"  answered  Del- 
phine,  supplying  what  she  supposed 
Marsac  meant. 


Then,  with  laughter  and  little  jokes, 
and  blushes  on  Claire's  part,  the  con 
tract  was  destroyed.  Never  were  four 


The  Sprightly 

persons  merrier,  until  Claire  suddenly 
asked,  • — 

"  Where  is  papa  ?  " 

At  that  moment  Marsac  happened 
to  glance  toward  the  high-road  that 
crossed  a  hill  about  a  mile  off.  The 
sunset  glow  was  still  upon  the  hill,  and 
Marsac's  keen  eyes  recognised  Mon 
sieur  Duval's  victoria,  with  Madame 
Fleury  in  it ;  and  that  stout  figure  in 
nankeen  trousers  and  gaiters,  with  the 
Panama  hat  on  his  lap,  could  be  no 
other  than  old  Duval.  The  situation 
flashed  upon  them.  Madame  Fleury 
had  bamboozled  the  old  man  into  tak 
ing  her  back  to  town  in  one  of  his  own 
carriages.  Marsac  could  only  point  in 
silent  consternation  to  the  carriage. 
The  two  girls  burst  into  hysterical 
tears.  Marsac,  throwing  himself  into 
a  chair,  groaned  aloud  ;  while  Fon 
taine  alone,  although  pretending  to 
be  grieved,  felt  perfectly  willing  to 
get  rid  of  Madame  Fleury  at  any 
price,  even  by  presenting  her  with 
144 


Romance  of  Marsac 

the  head  of  his  prospective  father- 
in-law  on  a  charger^ —  after  the  man 
ner  of  Herodias,  another  enterprising 
would-be  widow  of  a  good  many  years 
ago. 


10 


The  Sprightly 


Chapter    IV 


O  OME  weeks  now  passed,  but  not  in 
the  happiness  which  might  have 
been  expected  when  it  was  at  least 
certain  that  Fontaine  and  Claire  could 
freely  love  each  other.  Old  Duval  had 
returned  late,  the  night  he  had  driven 
with  Madame  Fleury  to  Paris,  and  his 
conduct  since  had  been  such  as  to 
make  his  family  miserable.  Under 
pretence  of  having  some  repairs  made 
in  the  Passy  villa,  he  had  brought  them 
all  back  to  Paris  in  the  heats  of  May  ; 
and  it  was  tolerably  certain  that  this 
move  was  in  order  to  be  nearer  Ma 
dame  Fleury.  Claire  was  wretched  at 
this  idea  ;  and  although,  being  a  timid 
girl,  she  dared  not  question  her  father, 
she  had  every  reason  to  suspect  his 
146 


Romance  of  Marsac 

infatuation  for  the  widow  who  had 
come  so  near  wrecking  Fontaine's 
life. 

As  for  Fontaine,  although  he  daily 
and  hourly  got  the  benefit  of  his 
reputed  two  millions,  all  the  money 
he  made  went  like  wildfire  in  the  effort 
to  keep  up  the  delusion  of  a  great  for 
tune.  He  spent  his  principal,  and  the 
world  thought  he  was  spending  his 
income.  Besides,  he  feared  seriously 
the  effect  his  deception  might  have 
upon  Claire  when  she  found  it  out,  — 
which  she  must,  sometime  or  other. 
Then  he  began  to  have  a  morbid  ap 
prehension  of  the  real  Uncle  Maurice 
turning  up  ;  and  last  and  worst  of  all, 
he  was  now  saddled  with  a  reputation 
for  brilliancy  founded  upon  the  play, 
the  speech,  and  the  picture,  —  all  Mar- 
sac's  work,  which  had  been  ably  sus 
tained  by  the  series  of  powerful  articles 
signed  by  him  and  written  by  Marsac, 
—  which  was  simply  maddening.  Fon 
taine,  who  was  of  an  extremely  honest 
147 


The  Sprightly 

and  simple  nature,  suffered  agonies  from 
this  false  reputation ;  but  the  embar 
rassed  manner  and  sickly  smile  with 
which  he  received  compliments  on  his 
achievements  was  taken  for  modesty  ; 
and  he  passed,  therefore,  as  the  most 
modest  as  well  as  the  most  gifted  young 
man  in  Paris. 

As  for  Marsac  and  Delphine,  they 
were  tormented  in  a  hell  of  their  own 
making.  Each  profoundly  in  love  with 
the  other,  and  each  smarting  under  the 
supposed  contempt  of  the  other,  they 
grew  sharper  in  their  attacks  on  love 
and  marriage,  and  suffered  accordingly. 

One  morning,  Marsac  happening  to 
go  to  Monsieur  DuvaPs  quite  early, — 
for  they  were  now  upon  the  most  inti 
mate  terms  at  the  house,  —  he  found 
Fontaine  sitting  alone  in  a  little  draw 
ing-room  which  communicated  with 
the  conservatory  and  overlooked  the 
trees  and  fountains  in  the  Luxembourg 
gardens.  The  morning  papers  lay  on 
a  table  before  him  ;  but  Fontaine,  sunk 
148 


Romance  of   Marsac 

in  a  deep  armchair,  was  a  picture  of 
misery.  Marsac,  seeing  Fontaine's 
gloomy  mood,  began  jovially 
and  jauntily, — 

"  I  say,  old  man,  what 
a  good  time  you  must 
have  had  last  night !  " 

"Why?  "asked  Fon 
taine,  sulkily. 

"  Because  you  are  so         W 
blue  this  morning." 

"You  would  be  blue  too,  in 
my  place,"  answered  Fontaine,  sullenly. 
"  Here  I  am,  spending  every  franc  I 
make  in  the  pretence  of  a  fortune  I 
have  n't  got ;  and  when  I  tell  the  truth 
to  Claire,  whom  I  love  from  the  bottom 
of  my  heart,  she  will  hate  me  for  the 
fraud  I  have  practised  upon  her." 

This  view  had  not  occurred  so  forci 
bly  to  Marsac  before.  He  took  a  turn 
about  the  room,  and  then  said  in  an 
agitated  voice,  "  Is  it  possible  that 
Uncle  Maurice  was  not  a  happy  in 
vention  ?  " 

149 


The  Sprightly 

"  Happy  invention  !  Damn  Uncle 
Maurice  !  "  almost  shouted  Fontaine, 
burying  his  head  in  the  pillows  of  the 
great  chair.  "  Marsac,  you  are  the 
best  fellow  in  the  world  ;  but  you  have 
been  just  a  little  too  clever  this  time. 
Besides  giving  me  a  fictitious  fortune, 
you  have  made  me  out  to  be  the  most 
brilliant  man  in  Paris  ;  and  I  can  tell 
you  it  is  simply  killing  me,  trying  to 
live  up  to  the  character.  If  that  pic 
ture  had  n't  been  so  deuced  good ;  if 
that  speech  had  n't  been  so  devilish 
funny  ;  if  that  play  had  n't  been  so 
damnably  bright,  —  ah,  hell  and  all  its 
furies  !  " 

Fontaine  rolled  about  his  chair  in 
anguish,  while  Marsac  sat  silent  and 
appalled  at  the  result  of  his  own 
ingenuity, 

"  And,"  cried  Fontaine,  desperately, 
dashing  his  hand  to  his  forehead, 
"  suppose  that  infernal  old  Uncle 
Maurice  of  mine  should  turn  up  from 
America  ?  " 

'5° 


Romance  of  Marsac 


"  No,  no  !  "  said  Marsac,  "  that  is 
impossible.  No,  no,  fate  has  not  such 
a  cruel  blow  in  store  for  us.  •  It  is  just 
as  rational  to  suppose  that  the  other 
uncles  and  aunts  I  gave  you  should 
materialise  and  come  to  life  in 
Paris  —  " 

A  knock  at  the  door  startled  them 
both.  It  was  an  ordinary 
enough  knock,  such  as  might 
precede  a  footman  or  a  trades 
man  ;  but  to  Marsac  and  Fon 
taine,  whose  nerves  had  been 
a  good  deal  wrought  upon  in 
the  last  few  exciting  months, 
it  sounded  like  the  crack  of  doom. 
Both  of  them  sat  with  pale  faces, 
and  neither  could  say  the  ordinary 
words,  "  Come  in."  But  the  person 
knocking  came  in,  after  a  moment. 
He  was  a  little  old  man,  a  shabby 
little  old  man,  clutching  a  rusty  trav 
elling-bag  in  his  trembling  hands.  He 
stood  in  the  centre  of  the  room, 
looking  about  awkwardly  and  timidly. 


The  Sprightly 

Marsac  felt  as  if  he  were  frozen  to  his 
chair.  His  tongue  clove  to  the  roof  of 
his  mouth,  and  he  could  feel  his  hair 
rising  on  his  head.  Not  Frankenstein, 
when  his  monster  came  to  life,  could 
have  felt  more  horror.  Fontaine,  with 
one  wild  look,  seemed  inspired  with 
the  motion  that  was  denied  Marsac, 
and  darted  into  the  conservatory. 

The  old  man  advanced,  still  holding 
on  to  his  shabby  bag.  "  I  am  told," 
he  said  hesitatingly,  "  that  this  is  the 
house  of  Monsieur  Duval,  and  I  would 
find  my  nephew,  Monsieur  Auguste 
Fontaine,  here.  The  lackeys  below 
did  n't  want  to  let  me  up :  I  suppose 
I  am  not  so  well  dressed  as  I  ought  to 
be.  I  am  Auguste's  uncle,  just  from 
America.  I  am  Monsieur  Maurice 
Fontaine." 

Had  the  arch-fiend  appeared  in  per 
son,  with  a  tail  and  hoofs  and  horns, 
and  said  calmly,  "  I  am  Beelzebub, 
Prince  of  Darkness,  just  from  Hades," 
he  could  not  have  disconcerted  Marsac 
'S2 


Romance  of  Marsac 

more.  He  rose  to  his  feet,  but  found 
himself  incapable  of  speech. 

This,  then,  was  Uncle  Maurice  ! 
Like  the  foolish  man  who  let  the  genie 
out  of  the  trunk,  the  apparition  had 
grown  and  grown,  until  it  was  now 
unmanageable.  And  here  was  the 
substance,  the  actual  man  of  that  fig 
ment  of  Marsac's  imagination  ;  here 
was  Uncle  Maurice  !  Marsac  felt  a 
singular  kind  of  acquaintanceship  and 
even  kinship  with  Uncle  Maurice  ;  and 
through  it  all  he  had  a  dim  sensation 
of  pity  for  the  poor  old  man  standing 
there,  holding  on  apparently  to  all  his 
few  worldly  possessions,  and  looking 
so  deprecating,  so  apologetic,  so  blankly 
disappointed. 

Uncle  Maurice  began  to  speak 
again,  trying  to  smile,  but  his  eyes  mean 
while  filling  with  tears.  "  Perhaps  I 
counted  too  much  on  this  home-coming  ; 
and  —  and  —  it 's  ridiculous,  you  know, 
for  a  poor  old  man  to  expect  a  very 
warm  welcome.  I  have  n't  had  a 


The  Sprightly 

single  hand  held  out  to  me  yet,  since  I 
landed." 

A  wave  of  pity  swept  over  Marsac. 
Terrible  as  this  denouement  was,  wreck 
and  havoc  as  it  made,  the  old  man's 
disappointment  touched  him  ;  and  Mar- 
sac  had  one  of  the  best  hearts  in  the 
world. 

"  My  dear  Monsieur  Fontaine,"  he 
said,  advancing,  and  trying  to  speak  in 
a  natural  voice,  "  you  shall  not  say  that 
again.  Here  is  my  hand,  and  I  guar 
antee  that  Fontaine,  who  is  my  best 
friend,  my  brother  in  fact,  will  not  fail 
to  welcome  you.  I  have  often  heard 
him  speak  of  you,  and  in  the  kindest 
terms." 

"  Did  he  ? "  asked  the  old  man, 
delightedly  grasping  Marsac's  hand. 
"  That  was  good  of  the  boy  !  I  dare 
say  he  heard  that  false  report  that  I 
was  dead." 

"  He  did,"  answered  Marsac,  "  and 
he  put  on  mourning  for  you,  and  did 
not  go  into  society  for  several  weeks." 
T54 


Romance  of  Marsac 

That  seemed  to  overjoy  the  poor  old 
man.  ct  Good  lad,  good  fellow  !  I  '11 
not  forget  that.  There 's  no  such 
proof  of  real  respect.  And  you  — 
What  is  your  name,  may  1  ask  ?  " 

"  Marsac,  —  and  at  your  service." 

"Well,  Monsieur  Marsac,  since  you 
are  so  kind,  tell  me  more  about  my 
nephew.  You  know  he  is  my  only 
near  living  relative." 

"  He  is  a  noble  fellow  ;  and  he  is 
engaged  to  be  married  to  the  daughter 
of  the  owner  of  this  house,  —  a  lovely 
girl,  Mademoiselle  Claire  Duval." 

The  old  man  seated  himself,  and 
with  his  precious  bag  between  his  knees 
drank  in  eagerly  Marsac's  every  word. 
Marsac  saw  the  advisability  of  prepar 
ing  Monsieur  Maurice  Fontaine  for 
the  state  of  affairs  that  he  must  pres 
ently  find  out. 

"  When  Fontaine  went  in  mourning 
for  you  —  which  I  am  glad  to  see 
there  was  no  occasion  for  — 

"And  I  am  glad  too.     Go  on — " 


The  Sprightly 

<c  Some  miscreant  started  the  report 
that  you  had  left  him  a  fortune.  It 
got  into  the  newspapers,  and  everybody 
believed  it,  —  even  Claire.  Fontaine 
—  foolishly,  I  think  —  did  not  confide 
to  her  frankly  how  it  was  ;  and  he  was 
telling  me  just  now  his  distress  at 
having  to  confess  his  deception  to 
Claire.  She  is  a  sweet  girl,  though, 
and  I  believe  his  confession  will  not 
alter  her  affection  in  the  least.  I  will 
go  and  fetch  Fontaine." 

Marsac  went  into  the  conservatory. 
There  stood  Fontaine,  as  white  as  a 
sheet,  and  wild-eyed. 

u  Come  in  and  see  your  uncle," 
whispered  Marsac. 

"  I  can't — I  won't,"  answered  Fon 
taine,  desperately. 

"  But  you  must.  The  best  and 
only  thing  now  is  to  face  the  music. 
And,  besides,  you  would  feel  sympathy 
for  the  old  man,  —  he  is  so  humble,  so 
gentle,  and  seems  so  grateful  for  even 
the  small  kindness  I  have  shown  him." 

156 


Romance  of  Marsac 

44  He  has  wrecked  my  life,"  was 
Fontaine's  angry  reply. 

"  Rubbish  !  you  are  twenty  times 
better  off  for  him.  Come  along;  "  and 
Fontaine  never  having  resisted  Marsac 
in  his  life  could  not  do  so  now,  and 
went  obediently  into  the  drawing-room 
to  greet  affectionately  the  man  whose 
very  existence  he  conceived  was  utterly 
disastrous  to  him. 

Uncle  Maurice  was  charmed  with 
the  reception  he  got  from  Fontaine, 
and  immediately  began  joking  him 
about  Claire.  "And  she  thought  you 
had  a  rich  old  uncle  who  had  died 
and  left  you  a  fortune  —  ha  !  ha  !  "  he 
chuckled.  "  Well,  perhaps,  after  all, 
you  will  be  just  as  happy  when  the 
truth  is  known." 

Fontaine  could  scarcely  stand  this  ; 
but  luckily  Uncle  Maurice  concluded 
he  would  make  himself  a  little  present 
able  before  being  introduced  to  Claire. 

"I  have  some  better  clothes  than 
these,"  he  said  apologetically,  "  though 
X57 


The  Sprightly 
I     have  n't     them     in     my     bag    with 

J  o 

me." 

u  Never  mind,"  said  Marsac,  cor 
dially  ;  "  go  to  our  quarters,  just  around 
the  corner ;  here  are  my  keys.  Get 
anything  you  want,  —  linen,  cigars, 
liqueurs, — and  come  back  very  soon, 
so  we  can  present  you  to  Claire  and  her 
cousin  Delphine.  We  will  wait  for 
you  here." 

"  Let  me  assist  you,"  said  Fontaine, 
trying  to  take  the  old  bag. 

"  No,  no,  no !  "  cried  Uncle  Maurice, 
determinedly  ;  "  I  've  got  to  hold  on 
to  that,  —  it  has  all  my  little  savings 
in  it."  And  the  old  man  went 
off,  promising  to  return  in  half  an 
hour. 

Left  alone,  Marsac  and  Fontaine 
avoided  each  other's  gaze,  and  said  not 
a  word.  Language  could  not  express 
the  depth,  the  height,  the  breadth  of 
the  catastrophe  that  had  befallen  them. 
Yet  they  were  undeniably  better  off 
than  if  Uncle  Maurice  had  never  lived. 
158 


Romance  of  Marsac 


After  a  long  and  painful  pause,  Mar- 
sac  spoke. 

tc  You  must  confess  at  once  to 
Claire ;  and  1  don't  believe  it  will 
change  her  affection  for  you." 


•- 


/4 M  1 
•-4ft> 


Fontaine  had  no  time  to  reply,  for 
at  that  moment  Claire  and  Delphine 
entered  the  room  together.  It  was 
plain  that  they  were  distressed  about 


The  Sprightly 

something,  and  Delphine's  first  words 
were,  — 

"  We  are  in  very  great  trouble." 

"  AJ1  is  not  bright  for  us,  either," 
gloomily  replied  Marsac. 

"  Ours  is  a  very  real  trouble,"  began 
Claire,  half  crying.  u  We  have  found 
out  that  papa  spends  half  his  time 
with  Madame  Fleury.  He  writes  to 
her,  and  to-day  came  a  bill  for  thirty 
bouquets  in  three  weeks  for  her.  If 
he  should  marry  her  —  oh,  the  thought 
is  too  dreadful !  "  and  Claire  burst  into 
tears. 

Fontaine  took  her  hand  tenderly, 
and  led  her  into  the  conservatory. 

Marsac  and  Delphine  were  now  left 
alone.  Marsac  for  once  was  com 
pletely  unnerved,  but  he  managed  to 
hide  it  from  Delphine. 

"  What  do  you  suppose  Auguste  and 
Claire  find  to  say  to  each  other  in  these 
tremendously  long  private  interviews?  " 
she  asked,  wishing  from  the  bottom  of 
her  heart  that  Marsac  would  show 
160 


Romance  of  Marsac 

some  inclination  toward  long  private 
interviews  with  her.  "I  have  a  great 
mind  to  interrupt  this  one." 

u  Pray,  don't,"  cried  Marsac, 
eagerly  ;  and  then  with  a  sickly  at 
tempt  at  a  return  to  his  old  manner,  he 
said,  "  Let  them  be  happy  while  they 
can.  Soon  they  will  be  mar 
ried,  and  then  —  " 


A   dismal   shaking   of  the 
ad  finished  the  sentence 
Every  word   went  like 


head  finished  the  sentence.        \  /V=^  41W,: 


a  knife  to  Delphine's  tor 
tured    heart ;    but    not  to 
be  outdone,  she  flippantly  replied, 
"As  far  as  those  two  go,  Plato 
might  never   have  lived,  and    Socrates 
might   never  have  died  !  " 

Now,  for  a  long  time,  ever  since 
Marsac  had  known  and  loved  Delphine, 
the  name  of  Plato  had  become  pecu 
liarly  odious  to  him.  He  considered 
that  a  large  part  of  the  misery  he  was 
enduring  was  directly  to  be  laid  at  the 
door  of  that  philosopher,  and  he  had 
161 


The  Sprightly 

often  ardenlty  wished  to  himself  that 
Plato  and  not  Socrates  had  been 
forced  to  drink  the  hemlock.  He  could 
not  forbear  saying  bitterly,— 

"  Do  you  know,  Mademoiselle,  there 
are  persons  who  loathe  and  hate  and 
despise  and  revile  and  scorn  and  con 
temn  the  divine  Plato?" 

Marsac's  tone  of  ineffable  disgust 
when  he  said  "divine"  might  have 
enlightened  Delphine  -,  but  it  did  not. 
"  I  am  afraid  our  two  friends  in  the 
conservatory  do  not  appreciate  him," 
she  answered,  smiling.  "  I  dare  say 
Claire  is  asking  Auguste  the  very  same 
question  that  Eve  asked  Adam  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden,  —  is  she  the  only 
woman  he  has  ever  loved  ?  " 

It  occurred  to  Marsac  that  it  would 
be  well  to  prepare  Delphine  for  what 
Fontaine  actually  was  revealing  at 
that  moment ;  so  drawing  his  chair 
nearer,  he  said  confidentially,  "  Made 
moiselle,  I  can  tell  you  exactly  what 
they  are  talking  about  at  this  moment. 
162 


Romance  of  Marsac 

What  would  you  think  if  I  were  to 
tell  you  that  Fontaine's  Uncle  Maurice 
was  not  dead,  after  all,  but  has  just 
arrived  at  our  lodgings,  and  will  very 
soon  present  himself  in  this  room  ?  " 

Delphine's  mouth  came  open  with 
astonishment,  and  her  first  question 
when  she  had  recovered  from  the  shock 
of  her  surprise  was,  lt  And  how  about 
the  fortune  ?  " 

Marsac  shook  his  head  lugubri 
ously.  "  I  can  tell  you  nothing. 
That  fortune  is  involved  in  the  deepest 
mystery.  There  are  indications  of  a 
plot  the  most  extraordinary  you  can 
conceive.  I  know  nothing,  except 
that  Monsieur  Maurice  Fontaine  is 
alive,  and  is  in  Paris,  and  will  be  here 
shortly."  And  then,  to  divert  her 
from  so  perilous  a  subject,  he  said, 
u  But  we  are  consumed  with  anxiety 
regarding  Monsieur  Duval  and  the 
Comtesse  de  Fleury.  It  will  be  terri 
ble  for  you  and  Claire  if  she  succeeds 
in  capturing  Monsieur  Duval." 

,63 


The  Sprightly 

Delphine's  answer  was  artfully  con 
trived  :  "If  that  dreadful  woman 
should  succeed  in*  marrying  my  uncle, 
this  could  no  longer  be  a  home  for 
me." 

Here  was  an  opportunity  at  once  for 
Marsac  to  declare  himself,  if  he  had  a 
spark  of  tenderness  for  her.  The  ten 
derness,  amounting  to  adoration,  was 
there;  but  Marsac  —  the  ready,  the 
witty,  the  glib,  the  daring  —  was  silent 
and  abashed  in  the  presence  of  the 
master-passion.  His  silence,  which 
was  really  one  of  deep  emotion,  was 
naturally  misunderstood  by  Delphine. 
Just  as  he  had  nerved  himself  to  take 
what  he  thought  a  desperate  chance, 
by  telling  her  of  his  love,  her  .  face 
hardened,  she  deliberately  turned  her 
back  to  him,  and  picking  up  some 
fancy-work  on  the  table,  seated  herself 
at  it. 

There  was  nothing  left  for  Marsac 
but  the  newspaper  which  Fontaine  had 
dropped.     He  took  it,  and  for  half  an 
164 


Romance  of  Marsac 

hour  no  sound  was  heard  except  the 
rattle  of  the  sheets  as  they  were  turned. 
Delphine  stitched  in  silent  anger  and 
disappointment. 

It  seemed  fated  that  all  the  persons 
whom  Marsac  and  Fontaine  particu 
larly  did  not  wish  to  see  at  M.  Duval's 
house  should  turn  up  that  morning,  for 
within  five  minutes  of  Marsac's  and 
Delphine's  latest  misunderstanding  a 
footman  appeared  to  announce  another 
startling  arrival.  The  man  usually 
maintained  the  stolid  countenance  of 
his  tribe,  but  on  this  occasion  he  wore 
a  grin  like  a  rat-trap.  "  M'sieu  Mar- 
sac,"  he  said,  almost  laughing  in 
Marsac's  gloomy  face,  "  here  's  a  — 
person  — ' 

"  A  lady,  if  you  please,"  proclaimed 
a  loud  voice,  as  Madame  Schmid 
marched  in,  shoving  the  footman  un 
ceremoniously  out  of  the  way. 

Poor  Marsac's  nerves  were  suffi 
ciently  unstrung  by  Uncle  Maurice's 
arrival,  and  Madame  Schmid's  seemed 

165 


The  Sprightly 

likely  to  finish  him.  But  she  was  such 
a  good-hearted  creature,  and  in  spite  of 
having,  figuratively,  dragged  Fontaine 
and  himself  around  by  the  hair  of 
their  heads,  had  washed  and  scrubbed 
for  them  so  faithfully,  that  Marsac 
could  not  find  it  in  his  heart  to  receive 
her  coldly.  As  for  Madame  Schmid, 
Marsac's  delightful  impudence  had  won 
its  way  into  her  honest  heart,  and  she 
had  come  to  do  him  a  great  service. 
Her  errand  not  being  a  professional 
one,  she  wore  a  gorgeous  red  bonnet, 
all  flowers  ;  a  green  mantle,  all  span 
gles  ;  a  purple  gown,  all  stripes  ;  and, 
with  a  yellow  parasol,  looked  some 
thing  like  a  bird  of  paradise. 

"  Here  you  are,"  she  cried,  a  broad 
smile  on  her  handsome  face.  "  Just 
as  impudent  as  ever,  I  warrant.  If 
1  get  out  of  this  room  without  being 
kissed  —  " 

Delphine,  looking  on  in  amazement, 
became    pale    at    this ;     while    Marsac 
turned  blue   in  the   face. 
166 


Romance  of  Marsac 

u  I  perceive  I  am  in  the  way,"  mur 
mured  Delphine,  in  a  scarcely  audible 
voice,  and  made  for  the  door. 

"  Mademoiselle  —  I  implore  —  ': 
Marsac  got  this  far  when  Delphine 
slammed  the  door  in  his  face. 

"  Is  the  young  lady  jealous  ?  "  asked 
Madame  Schmid,  delightedly. 

"  I  am  afraid  not,"  was  Marsac's 
dejected  reply. 

"Well,  M'sieu,"  began  Madame 
Schmid,  with  an  air  of  importance,  "  I 
have  come  to  tell  you  and  that  pretty 
boy  Fontaine  something  you  will  like 
to  hear.  In  the  first  place,  Madame 
Fleury  is  coming  here  this  morning." 

"  Charming  !  Ha  !  ha  !  Fontaine 
will  be  rapturously  happy." 

u  Wait  a  minute.  Don't  laugh  in 
that  dismal  manner.  She  is  determined, 
of  course,  to  marry  M.  Duval ;  but  she 
thinks,  by  coming  to  this  house,  she 
can  force  Fontaine  to  give  her  money 
rather  than  betray  her  presence  to  his 
fiancee.  Well,  I  found  this  out,  —  no 


The  Sprightly 

matter  how,  —  and  I  said  this  morning 
to  Fleury  —  " 
v.  «  To  Fleury  !  " 

"  To  Fleury.  He  is  no  more  dead 
than  you  or  I.  He  has  been  living  at 
my  house  for  a  month  past.  I  said, 
4 1  won't  keep  your  secret  any  longer. 
I  '11  tell  your  wife  that  you  are  alive.' 
Oh,  he  cried  like  a  baby  at  that." 

Marsac  seized  her  hands,  and  could 
only  cry  breathlessly,  u  Go  on  !  go  on  !  " 

"  It  was  this  way.  About  a  month 
ago  Fleury  came  walking  into  my 
place  and  asked,  for  lodgings.  I  said, 
1  Why,  you  were  drowned.'  He  said, 
'  I  was  n't.'  I  said,  '  Your  wife  thinks 
so.'  He  said,  c  I  hope  she  will  keep 
on  thinking  so.'  I  had  n't  the  heart 
to  betray  the  poor  creature,  so  I  said 
nothing  until  I  heard  about  this  new 
move  of  his  wife's,  but  then  I  deter 
mined  to  tell  you ;  and  I  have  him 
around  the  corner,  in  a  wine-shop, 
where  he  is  crying  and  drinking ;  and 
you  must  come  with  me." 
1 68 


Romance  of  Marsac 

Two  minutes  later  Delphine  saw, 
from  an  upper  window,  Ma-dame 
Schmid  parading  down  the  street,  with 
Marsac  gallantly  holding  the  yellow 
parasol  over  her  red  bonnet,  and  at 
tending  her  as  if  she  were  a  duchess. 
That,  then,  was  the  woman  Marsac 
loved  ! 

Delphine,  pale  and  agonised,  re 
turned  to  the  drawing-room. 

O 

There  came  a  rustle  of  draperies 
from  the  conservatory,  and  Claire  flitted 
in  with  Fontaine.  One  look  at  their 
happy  faces  told  that  Uncle  Maurice's 
fortune  had  made  no  figure  in  their 
love  affair. 

"  What  do  you  think,  Delphine," 
asked  Claire,  with  her  hand  still  lying 
in  Fontaine's, — "this  foolish  boy  has 
not  a  fortune,  after  all  ;  and  he  has 
known  it  for  some  time,  and  dared  not 
tell  me.  It  seems  that  when  the  re 
port  of  his  Uncle  Maurice's  death 
came,  some  one  started  the  story  in 
the  newspapers  about  the  fortune,  and 
169 


The  Sprightly 

Auguste  did  not  have  the  nerve  to 
contradict  it.  Besides,  it  might  have 
been  true,  for  he  had  an  Uncle  Maurice 
in  America.  And  this  very  morning 
Uncle  Maurice  arrived  in  Paris,  and 
was  directed  here  to  find  Auguste. 
And  Auguste  says  the  old  man  looks 
very  poor  and  friendless,  but  cheery 
and  glad  to  get  back  to  France  ;  and 
dear,  kind  Monsieur  Marsac  was  so 
good  to  the  old  man,  and  made 
Auguste  kind  to  him  too.  So  he  has 
gone  to  their  apartment  to  make  ready 
to  come  and  see  us.  I  shall  be  just 
as  nice  to  him  as  I  can  be,  and  I  shall 
make  papa  be  the  same." 

"  Claire,  you  have  the  dearest  heart 
in  the  world,"  burst  out  Delphine, 
generously  forgetting  her  own  misery  ; 
"  and  I  love  and  respect  you  the  more 
for  not  caring  whether  Auguste  has  a 
fortune  or  not." 

"  But  with  his  talents,"  answered 
Claire,  proudly,  ua  fortune  will  be  his. 
We  can  live  well  enough  on  his  pic- 
170 


Romance  of  Marsac 

tures,  his  plays,  and  his  articles  in  the 
newspapers." 

Fontaine's  effort  at  a  cheerful  grin 
when  this  was  said  was  piteous  to  he- 
hold.  Just  then  the  footman  again 
entered  and  handed  him  a  card.  One 
look  was  enough.  "  It  is  Madame 
Fleury!"  he  cried.  "Don't  let  her 
up." 

But  he  was  too  late.  Madame 
Fleury  walked  into  the  drawing-room 
on  the  heels  of  her  messenger  and 
said  to  the  servant,  in  an  authoritative 
manner,  u  Take  my  card  to  Mon 
sieur  Duval." 

Never  had  the  gentle  Claire  showed 
haughtiness  to  any  human  creature 
before ;  but  when  face  to  face  with 
Madame  Fleury,  she  drew  her  slight 
figure  up,  and  in  a  tone  of  quiet  dis 
dain  said,  "  I  think,  Madame,  that  I 
—  my  father's  daughter — have  some 
rights  in  this  house;  and  I  forbid  my 
servant  to  take  your  card." 

"  And  I  think,"  suavely  replied 
171 


The  Sprightly 

Madame  Fleury,  "  that  your  father, 
master  of  his  house,  has  some  rights 
here  too  ;  so  —  "  A  look  at  the  foot 
man  finished  the  sentence.  The  man 
went  out  with  the  card. 

Claire,  with  a  heightened  colour, 
turned  to  Delphine,  saying,  "  Shall  we 
withdraw  ?  " 

"  By  no  means, "answered  Delphine, 
coolly  ;  u  that  would  indeed  be  a  sur 
render."  They  both  therefore  stood 
their  ground. 

Fontaine,  who  was  glad  to  keep  out 
of  the  mele'e,  had  prudently  kept  in 
the  background  during  this  ;  but  Ma 
dame  Fleury  would  not  let  him  rest 
there. 

"  Monsieur  Fontaine,"  she  asked  in 
her  smoothest  voice,  "  do  you  remem 
ber  a  certain  document  which  we  both 
signed,  referring  to  the  I5th  of  May  ?  " 

"  I   do,  to  my  eternal  sorrow,"  was 

Fontaine's  reply  ;   but  before  he  could 

say    anything    more,    Monsieur    Duval 

bustled    in,   looking    flurried,    nervous, 

172 


Romance  of  Marsac 

but  elated  with  the  elation  of  a  stupid 
old  man  who  finds  himself  an  object  of 
interest  to  a  handsome  young  woman. 

"  Good  morning,  Madame,"  he  cried. 
"  I  am  deligftted  to  see  you." 

"  It  is  more  than  your  daughter  and 
niece  were,"  answered  Madame  Fleury, 
smiling. 

"How  is  this?"  sternly  asked  Mon 
sieur  Duval,  wheeling  around  upon  the 
two  girls.  Claire,  who  dearly  loved  her 
father,  could  not  utter  a  word ;  but 
Delphine  was  equal  to  the  situation. 

"  Of  course  we  were  not  delighted 
to  see  her;  and,  uncle  —  pardon  me  — 
but  a  man  of  your  age  should  know 
better  — 

"  Monsieur  Duval,"  interrupted  Ma 
dame  Fleury,  "your  age  is  one  of  your 
greatest  charms  in  my  eyes." 

"And  yet,"  coolly  continued  Del 
phine,  "  Monsieur  Fontaine's  youth 
was  no  objection  to  him.  Anything 
between  the  cradle  and  the  grave 
seems  to  suit  this — person." 


The  Sprightly 

Monsieur  Duval  felt  called  upon  to 
say  reprovingly,  u  Delphine  !  "  but  the 
next  moment  he  weakened  and  mut 
tered,  u  I  wish  Marsac  were  here.  He 
is  the  only  one  that  can  manage  all  of 
you  !  " 

"  I  wish  he  were  too,"  said  Madame 
Fleury.  "  I  was  just  speaking  of  a  val 
uable  paper  I  took  with  me  to  Passy 
that  evening  I  was  there.  By  an  un 
fortunate  oversight  on  my  part  Mon 
sieur  Marsac  got  hold  of  it,  and  tore  it 
into  bits,  which  he  afterward  tried  to 
burn  up.  I  saved  the  scraps,  but  I 
was  not  able  to  put  the  charred  pieces 
together.  Therefore  I  gave  an  expert 
one  hundred  and  fifty  francs  to  restore 
it.  He  has  just  returned  it  to  me, 
and  I  have  not  yet  had  a  chance  to 
open  it;  but  I  will  do  it  now,  and  I 
would  like  Monsieur  Marsac  to  see 
how  much  cleverer  I  am  than  he  is." 

Madame  Fleury  produced  an  en 
velope  from  her  card-case,  tore  it  open, 
and  then  stood  petrified  for  a  moment. 
174 


Romance  of  Marsac 

u  \Yhy  —  it    is  —  it    is  _  »  she    stam 
mered. 

"  A  bill  of  Landais  the  tailor," 
maliciously  put  in  Fontaine.  "  That  is 
what  he  tore  up." 


"  And  what  you  paid  one  hundred 
and  fifty  francs  to  have  restored,"  Del- 
phine  chimed  in. 

"  Madame  Fleury,"  said  Fontaine, 
determinedly,  "  I  have  put  up  with  this 
hounding  of  me  as  long  as  I  intend  to. 
175 


The  Sprightly 

I  shall  to-day  report  it  to  the  police, 
and  ask  protection." 

Instead  of  flying  into  a  rage  at  this, 
Madame  Fleury  executed  a  masterly 
coup.  Pressing  her  handkerchief  to 
her  eyes,  she  almost  fell  upon  old  Du- 
val's  shoulder,  crying,  "  Monsieur 
Duval,  will  you  stand  by  and  see  me 
so  affronted  ?  " 

"  No,  Madame  Fleury,"  sturdily 
answered  Monsieur  Duval,  with  his 
arm  half  round  her  waist.  "  Never 
mind,  Madame  Fleury.  If  he  reports 
you  to  the  police,  Madame  Fleury,  he 
will  have  to  reckon  with  me,  Madame 
Fleury.  I  know  I  'm  old  enough  to 
be  your  father,  but  if  you'll  marry  me, 
Madame  Fleury,  you  '11  find  me  a 
great  improvement  on  that  rascally 
count  you  married  first ;  and  you  may 
be  Madame  Duval  any  day  you  like." 

At  this  a  faint  shriek  burst  from  the 
two  girls  ;  and  Fontaine,  who  had  not 
dreamed  the  old  man  capable  of  such 
folly,  could  n't  repress  an  exclamation. 


Romance  of  Marsac 

However,  he  took  Claire's  hand,  and 
said  to  her  tenderly,  — 

"  Well,  my  dear  one,  the  only  thing 
for  you  to  do  now  is  to  trust   me,  and 
become   my   wife   at    the   earliest 
moment  possible." 

Claire  felt  at  that  moment  as 
if  she  had  but  one  earthly  de 
pendence  ;   she  clung  to  Fon 
taine,  and  weeping  said,  "  I 
will   marry   you   whenever   you 
like  ;    for  I  cannot,   and  never 
will,   countenance    my   father's 
marriage  to  this  creature." 

"  And  even  I  would  marry  to 
escape  living  with  this  woman," 
said   Delphine,   in   much   agita 
tion.     "  I  would  marry  Monsieur  Mar- 
sac,  or  commit  suicide  even,  rather  than 
live  in  the  house  with  her." 

Delphine  was  scarcely  conscious  of 
what  she  said,  but  a  gleam  of  wicked 
amusement  in  Madame  Fleury's  eyes 
showed  her  that  she  had  made  a  dan 
gerous  slip. 

12  177 


The  Sprightly 

Steps  were  heard  outside  in  the  hall 
as  if  of  three  or  even  four  persons  ; 
but  when  the  door  opened,  only  Mar- 
sac  entered.  He  wore  a  look  of  jaunty 
expectation,  which  seemed  only  to  be 
increased  by  the  startling  spectacle 
before  him,  —  Madame  Fleury  holding 
on  to  Monsieur  Duval's  arm,  the  old 
man  puffing,  blowing,  smiling,  and 
frowning  with  alternate  spasms  of  rage 
and  delight  ;  Claire  clinging  to  Fon 
taine  and  in  great  distress  ;  while  Del- 
phine,  pale  and  defiant,  stood  alone  in 
the  centre  of  the  group.  It  was  one 
of  the  most  delicious  moments  of 
Madame  Fleury's  life. 

When  Marsac,  raising  his  eyebrows, 
inquired,  "  What  is  this  I  see  ?  " 
Madame  Fleury  cut  in  before  even 
Monsieur  Duval  could  reply,  — 

"  You  see  the  betrothal  between 
Monsieur  Duval  and  me." 

Marsac's  wide,  handsome  mouth 
came  open  as  if  it  were  on  hinges. 
His  enjoyment  of  the  situation  seemed 
178 


Romance  of  Marsac 

intense  ;  and  Fontaine,  Claire,  and 
Delphine  were  all  astounded  at  his 
heartless  amusement  over  a  catastrophe 
so  ruinous  to  all  of  them.  He  only 
said,  with  a  grin,  after  surveying  the 
scene  for  a  minute  or  two,  - 

"  And  are  you  quite  certain, 
Madame,  of  carrying  out  your  plan  ?" 

u  Perfectly  certain,*'  responded  Mon 
sieur  Duval,  pompously ;  "and  she  will 
find  her  good  old  Duval  a  better  hus 
band  than  that  rascally  count  she  mar 
ried  first  and  buried  afterward." 

"  But  did  she  bury  him  ?  "  asked 
Marsac,  and  paused  to  get  the  whole 
effect  of  this.  It  was  magical  on  Ma 
dame  Fleury.  She  clenched  her  teeth  ; 
her  eyes  flashed  fire  ;  but  she  held  on 
stoutly  to  Monsieur  Duval,  who  grew 
white  about  the  chops.  Marsac, 
after  coolly  surveying  his  audience, 
announced, — 

"  I  have  the  honour  of  presenting  to 
you  Madame  Fleury's  husband  !  " 

With  that,  he  threw  the  door  open 
179 


The  Sprightly 

with  a  grand    flourish,  and    in  walked 
one  of  the  most  weazened,  cadaverous 
little  men   who  ever  stepped, 
and     behind    him    Madame 
Schmid's  rubicund  coun 
tenance  and  rotund  figure. 
Madame    Fleury 
could  not  repress  a  cry 
of  rage,  and   Monsieur 
Duval  dropped    her   arm  as 
if  it  was  red-hot.      Fleury,  who  seemed 
not  at  all  abashed   by  his  surroundings, 
looked  calmly  about.      Monsieur  Duva! 
was  the   first  to  recover  his  voice,  and 
his  disgusted  exclamation   was,  — 
"  That  creature  a  count  !  " 
u  I    did    not    say    he    was   a   count," 
corrected    Marsac.       "  I    merely    said, 
by   way    of   making    things    agreeable, 
that  Madame  Fleury  was  a  countess." 
Madame   Fleury's   reply  to  this  was 
one  word,  uttered  in  a  tone  of  concen 
trated  hatred,  "  Wretch  !  " 

"  Is   that   all    the   thanks    I   get    for 
restoring   to   you    your    long-lost   hus- 
180 


Romance  of  Marsac 

band  ?  "  said  Marsac  in  an  injured 
voice.  "  Oh,  the  ingratitude  that  is 
in  this  world  !  " 

Fleury,  meanwhile,  seemed  deter 
mined  to  assert  himself.  "  I  'm  not  a 
count,"  he  said  ;  a  and  that  lady  yonder," 
indicating  Madame  Fleury,  "always 
turned  up  her  nose  at  me  ;  but  I  am 
not  as  insignificant  as  she  would  have 
you  believe.  I  have  a  standing  offer 
from  the  medical  school  of  seventy- 
five  francs  for  my  skeleton  as  soon  as 
I  peg  out." 

"  I  wish  it  were  available  at  this 
moment,"  cried  Madame  Fleury. 

"  There  !  "  said  Fleury,  "  I  knew 
she  would  n't  be  glad  to  see  me  ;  and 
I  told  this  gentleman  so.  But  I  don't 
know  that  I  am  very  glad  to  see  her. 
1  have  n't  had  so  peaceable  and  quiet  a 
time  since  I  was  married  as  when  I 
was  dead." 

Here  Madame  Schmid  was  bound  to 
be  heard  ;  "  I  said  to  Fleury,  said  I  —  " 

"  Hold  .'  "  said  old  Duval,  advancing, 
181 


The  Sprightly 

u  I  know  this  person.     It  is  the  Baron 
ess  Schmid." 

"  Baroness  Schmid  !  Comte  de  Fleury  ! 
Oh,  this  is  too  comical  ! "  screamed 
Madame  Schmid,  laughing. 

"  Who  wanted  to  marry  Monsieur 
Fontaine,"  continued  old  Duval,  de 
terminedly. 

"  No,  no  !  "  cried  Delphine,  almost 
beside  herself  with  jealousy.  "  She 
wants  to  marry  Monsieur  Marsac." 

"  7  want  to  marry  that  pretty  boy, 
Fontaine  !  "  bawled  Madame  Schmid, 
finding  her  voice.  "  7  want  to  marry 
M'sieu  Marsac  !  I  want  their  wash 
ing,  that 's  all.  I  'm  a  washerwoman." 

"Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  implored 
Marsac,  "all  can  be  explained  at  a 
future  day ;  but  the  fact  remains  that 
this  is  Monsieur  Fleury." 

Old  Duval's  face  was  a  study  during 
this,  and  he  began  to  stammer,  "  I  - 
I  —  don't    think    we    can    be    married, 
Madame." 

The    hopelessness    of   her    situation 
182 


Romance  of  Marsac 

was  plain  to  Madame  Fleury.  She 
prepared  to  depart  from  the  house  she 
had  intended  to  preside  over.  She  gave 
a  glance  of  speechless  contempt  around 
the  circle,  including  every  member  of 
it,  and  ending  at  Fontaine,  who  had 
taken  no  part  in  the  denouement,  but 
had  watched  it  in  amazed  but  delighted 
silence. 

"  Monsieur  Duval,"  she  said  in  a 
hard  voice,  "  I  am  truly  sorry  I  cannot 
marry  you.  As  for  Monsieur  Fontaine 
I  would  only  have  .married  him  for 
lack  of  something  better.  The  indig 
nation  of  the  two  young  ladies  against 
me  seemed  wholly  devised  to  marry 
themselves  off.  Mademoiselle  Claire 
at  once  announced  her  willingness  to 
marry  Monsieur  Fontaine  ;  while  Mad 
emoiselle  Delphine  took  occasion  to 
say  that  she  would  marry  Monsieur 
Marsac  or  commit  suicide,  —  each  a  ter 
rible  alternative.  For  Monsieur  Mar- 
sac,  I  can  say  that  he  has  concocted 
and  conducted  the  most  extraordinary 
183 


The  Sprightly 

fraud  ever  perpetrated  upon  you.  I  am 
firmly  convinced  there  never  was  an 
Uncle  Maurice,  and  the  story  of  his 
death  and  his  fortune  was  a  pure  in 
vention  of  Marsac's,  from  beginning 
to  end." 

"  The  story  of  his  death,  I  grant 
you,  I  was  mistaken  about,"  blandly 
responded  Marsac  ;  "  but  as  to  there 
being  an  Uncle  Maurice  — 

Marsac  stepped  to  the  door,  opened 
it,  and  Uncle  Maurice,  evidently  bub 
bling  over  with  delight,  entered,  still 
holding  on  to  the  seedy  old  bag. 

"  Allow  me,"  said  Marsac,  with  a 
low  bow,  "  to  present  to  you  all,  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  Monsieur  Maurice 
Fontaine,  late  of  New  York,  and  from 
henceforth  from  Paris." 

Madame  Fleury  seemed  literally 
stunned  by  the  sight  of  the  little  old 
man,  who,  without  noticing  the  sensa 
tion  made  by  his  appearance,  went  all 
round  the  circle,  shaking  hands,  not 
forgetting  Madame  Fleury,  who  gave 
184 


Romance  of  Marsac 

him  her  hand  like  a  woman  in  a  night 
mare,  and  then  he  asked,  — 

u  Where  is  my  little  niece?  " 

Claire  ran  up  to  him,  looked  smil 
ingly  into  his  face  and  said,  ct  Here  I 
am,  Uncle  Maurice  !  " 

The  old  man's  gratification  was 
touching.  He  kissed  her  cheek,  he 
patted  her  hair  and  stroked  her  hand 
again  and  again  ;  but  he  never  let  go 
of  his  bag.  Monsieur  Duval  gazed 
mechanically  at  Uncle  Maurice,  while 
Delphine's  cordiality  was  second  only 
to  Claire's. 

"  Ah,"  cried  Uncle  Maurice,  begin 
ning  and  shaking  hands  all  round  for 
the  second  time,  "you  can't  ima 
gine  how  kindly  I  was  received  by 
these  two  fine  fellows.  They  did  n't 
mind  my  shabby  clothes  ;  they  treated 
me  nobly.  I  sha'n't  forget  it,  my 
lads." 

Madame  Fleury  at  this  found  her 
tongue.  "  He  does  n't  look  as  if  his 
acquaintance  would  be  much  of  an 

185 


The  Sprightly 

acquisition  to  his  family,"  she  said 
scornfully. 

"  Eh  ?  "  asked  Uncle  Maurice,  and 
he  seemed  stung  by  her  remark. 
"  Well,"  he  continued  with  an  un 
expected  twinkle  in  his  eyes,  "  that 's 
as  may  be.  I  have  in  this  bag  a  mil 
lion  francs'  worth  of  United  States 
government  bonds,  —  a  part  of  what 
I  made  in  that  noble  country.  I  in 
tended  some  of  it  for  my  nephew,  pro 
vided  he  received  me  kindly.  I  am 
proud  and  happy  to  say  he  did  so,  when 
he  thought  I  had  n't  a  decent  coat  to 
my  back;  so  I'll  give  him  —  let  me 
see  —  I  might  as  well  do  the  thing 
handsomely — half  a  million  francs,  so 
he  can  get  married."  He  opened  the 
bag  and  took  out  a  parcel.  "  Mon 
sieur  Duval,  you  are  a  man  of  affairs  ; 
you  know  what  these  are." 

The  sight  of  the  securities  seemed 

to    wake    Monsieur    Duval    up.       He 

examined    the    parcel   carefully,   while 

Fontaine  brokenly  expressed  his  thanks, 

1 86 


Romance  of  Marsac 

and  Claire  kissed  the  old  man  with 
tears  in  her  eyes. 

"  And,  Auguste,"  she  cried  gen 
erously,  "  Monsieur  Marsac  must  share 
in  our  good  fortune  ;  you  know  he  has 
shared  everything  with  you." 

"  Indeed  he  shall,"  replied  Fontaine, 
clasping  Marsac's  hand. 

u  Perhaps  you  don't  know,"  said 
Madame  Fleury  to  Uncle  Maurice, 
stopping  in  a  somewhat  precipitate 
flight  toward  the  door,  "  that  it  was 
that  Marsac  who  started  the  story  of 
your  giving  Fontaine  a  fortune." 

"  Did  you  then  —  ha  !  ha  !  "  Uncle 
Maurice  seemed  tickled  at  the  idea. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Marsac,  modestly  ; 
<c  when  it  was  reported  that  you  were 
dead,  I  determined  to  give  Fontaine 
every  franc  of  your  fortune  ;  and  I 
gave  you,  sir,  a  very  good  character 
besides.  I  endowed  you  with  every 
virtue  of  a  man  and  a  gentleman  ;  and 
it  seems  I  was  clairvoyant." 

Uncle  Maurice  laughed  excessively 
187 


The  Sprightly 

at  this,  and  handing  a  smaller  roll  out 
of  the  old  bag  to  Marsac,  he  said  : 
"  Well,  I  would  like  to  have  you  for 
a  nephew  too,  for  you  were  no  less  kind 
than  my  nephew,  and  with  less  obliga 
tion  ;  so  there  is  a  hundred  thousand 
francs  for  you,  —  a  mere  nest-egg. 
A  fellow  as  clever  as  you  can  always 
make  his  way  in  the  world." 

Marsac  was  overwhelmed  by 
the  old  man's  generosity  ;  and 
the  silence,  as  he  stood 
grasping  Uncle  Maurice's 
hand,  was  only  broken 
by  the  slamming  of  the 
door  as  Madame  Fleury 
rushed  out,  dragging  the  unhappy 
Fleury  after  her.  As  Monsieur  Duval 
watched  her  exit,  he  said  slowly,  — 

"  Perhaps  it  is  better,  after  all,  that 
I  am  not  in  Fleury's  shoes." 

"  A    great    deal    better,"    remarked 
Uncle     Maurice,     solemnly  ;     "  she  's 
too  much  for  you,  Monsieur  Duval." 
This   great  truth    seemed   to    strike 
188 


Romance  of  Marsac 

the  old  brewer  with  much  force  ;  the 
more  so  when  Madame  Schmid  said, 
pointing  after  Fleury's  departing  figure  : 
"That  man  weighed  near  two  hundred 
pounds  when  he  married  that  woman, 
and  I  believe  he  has  lost  not  less  than 
a  pound  a  day  since  that  time ;  and  you 
see  what  he  is  now.  Well,  I  must  be 
going.  M'sieu  Marsac,  when  you  and 
that  pretty  young  lady"  —  pointing  to 
Delphine  —  "  are  married,  please  to 
give  me  your  washing.  The  same  to 
you,  M'sieu  Fontaine,  and  your  young 
lady." 

Marsac  was  so  embarrassed  by  this 
speech  that  he  remained  perfectly  silent; 
but  Fontaine  escorted  Madame  Schmid 
to  the  door  with  profuse  thanks. 

Old  Duval  still  seemed  dazed  about 
the  dead  and  the  living  Uncle  Maurice. 
At  every  mention  of  the  supposititious 
Uncle  Maurice  the  real  one  would 
shake  with  merriment. 

"  So  Monsieur  Marsac  made  up  the 
yarn,"  said  Monsieur  Duval,  dubiously. 
189 


The  Sprightly 

"  The  noble  romance,  you  mean," 
replied  Marsac.  u  My  invention  of 
Uncle  Maurice  ranks  with  Orestes, 
with  Pantagruel,  with  Don  Quixote, 
with  all  those  splendid  creations  of  the 
imagination  that  are  as  real  to  us  as 
you,  sir,  are,"  to  Uncle  Maurice.  "  I 
endowed  you  with  every  virtue,  and 
I  find,  happily,  that  I  have  only  done 
you  justice."  Marsac  folded  his  arms, 
and  assumed  a  look  of  triumphant 
virtue. 

"  What  a  clever  fellow  !  what  a 
very  clever  fellow  !  "  chuckled  Uncle 
Maurice,  delightedly. 

"  And  I  also  invented  two  other 
rich  uncles  and  an  aged  and  de 
crepit  aunt,  —  all  of  whom  were  to 
make  Fontaine  their  heir,"  added 
Marsac  ;  at  which  Uncle  Maurice 
nearly  went  into  convulsions  of  en 
joyment. 

<c  I  used  to  think,"  said  Monsieur 
Duval,  "that  Monsieur  Marsac  with 
his  plays  and  his  paint-pots  and  his 
190 


Romance  of  Marsac 

writing  and  his  fiddling  was  a  great 
fool,  but  1  have  changed  my  opinion." 

"  A  thousand  thanks,"  replied  Mar- 
sac,  with  dignity,  —  "  not  only  for 
myself,  but  for  all  the  other  fools  who 
write  or  paint  or  fiddle,  and  thereby 
add  to  the  gaiety  of  nations." 

"  Well,  well,  well,"  said  Monsieur 
Duval,  hastily,  u  let  us  sit  down  and 
talk  things  over." 

So  he  and  Uncle  Maurice  and  Fon 
taine  and  Claire  formed  a  group  and 
sat  down.  Delphine,  who  had  taken 
but  little  part  in  the  proceedings,  but 
whose  heart  had  swelled  at  Marsac's 
triumph,  walked  toward  the  embrasure 
of  a  window.  Marsac  followed  her. 
The  curtain  fell  behind  them,  and  they 
were  as  much  alone  as  if  in  another 
room.  Outside  the  window  the  foun 
tains  plashed  in  the  May  air ;  the  day 
was  all  blue  and  gold.  The  trees  in 
the  Luxembourg  gardens  rustled  softly  ; 
it  was  a  day  for  making  love. 

Presently  Marsac  spoke  timidly  : 
191 


The  Sprightly 

u  Mademoiselle,  1  recall  some  words 
of  that  she-devil,  Madame  Fleury. 
She  said  you  had  declared  you  would 
commit  suicide,  or  —  or  —  marry  me, 
if-  Tell  me,  what  did  you  mean  ?  " 

"Just  what  I  said,"  answered  Del- 
phine,  with  a  beautiful  blush. 

"  Did  you  mean  that  either  fate  was 
equally  dreadful  ?  " 

"  No." 

"  Or,  perhaps,  that  —  I  have  a 
second  thought,  but  I  am  afraid  to 
mention  it." 

"  Second  thoughts  are  always  best," 
demurely  replied  Delphine. 

And  then  there  was  a  scene  that 
would  have  broken  the  heart  of  a 
Platonist.  A  few  murmured  words, 
a  hand-clasp — and  Delphine  lay  in 
Marsac's  arms.  A  bird  was  singing  in 
a  tree  outside  the  window,  and  a  bird 
also  sang  in  their  two  happy  hearts. 

So  deep  was  their  ecstasy  that  they 
did  not  hear  steps  approach,  nor  the 
curtain  softly  drawn,  and  they  were 
192 


Romance  of  Marsac 

wakened  from  their  dream  in  Paradise 
by  a  shout  of  laughter.  Fontaine  and 
Claire,  Uncle  Maurice  and  Monsieur 
Duval,  were  laughing  uproariously, 
and  gazing  at  the  two  apostles  of  pla- 
tonic  lover  the  relentless  enemies  of 
matrimony,  —  Marsac  with  his  arm 
round  Delphine's  waist,  and  his  hand 
some  head  almost  touching  her  bright 
hair.  Old  Duval  grunted  out  one 
word,  — 

"Plato!" 

uLet  Plato  go  to  the  devil!"  cried 
Marsac.  "  If  ever  I  meet  the  old 
scoundrel  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Styx,  I  promise  to  kick  him  all  over 
the  lower  regions  for  having  deprived 
me  for  one  hour  of  the  sweet  knowl 
edge  of  Delphine's  love." 

"Hurrah!"  cried  Uncle  Maurice. 
u  To  perdition  with  the  rascal  Plato  !  " 

c<  He     is     there     already,    I    hope," 
shouted  Fontaine,  dancing    in    his   de 
light.       "  Hurrah  !     hurrah  !     hurrah  ! 
Marsac  loves  and  is  beloved  !  " 
13  J93 


The   Romance  of  Marsac 

"And  I  can  tell  you  one  thing," 
interrupted  Monsieur  Duval,  with 
ponderous  solemnity,  u  that  Marsac  is 
not  such  a  fool  after  all  !  " 


194 


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